Allen Historia
by RMXStudio
Summary: Allen's a bit of a recluse, a tad distant, more silent about himself than others would think he is. It's amazing how he's told so much about his life, yet said so little. But you know how AKUMA are, throwing wrenches into carefully made plans. Some Laven, some LaviLena, etc.
1. Misterioso

**Hello people!**

 **So, I'm writing a lot of major stories, but that doesn't really leave me with a lot of time to write the little ideas that I come up with sometimes, so I decided that I'd try to do it anyway. Perhaps the faster I get these little ideas out, the faster I can get back to my major stories, like _MOTN_ or _NTM_...maybe even _SQotU_.**

 **I don't plan on this being long and completely well thought out, so this is more of a ficlet than a book (like my other ones are, whoaly fuck they're long).**

 **Anyway, please enjoy this short fic. It'll only be a few chapters. :)**

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: Copyright infringement not intended.**

* * *

Lavi never thought much about Allen's insistence to bathe alone at first.

No matter what country and culture you came from, the main bath in the Order was an onsen, and eventually most people got used to seeing each other mostly naked. Allen, however, adamantly refused as much as possible to be in the bath at the same time as any other soul. He never said it verbally, but the way he would wait for hours until no one was bathing, even if it meant that he had to check to see if anyone else was in the bath several times, spoke volumes all on its own.

Lavi just sort of figured it was a part of his discomfort with his cursed arm, white hair, and scar. He'd expressed to the white-haired boy that his oddities didn't disturb him, but Allen would simply smile as always and keep his distance as usual. It was a tad unnerving, but he wasn't about to put Allen in an uncomfortable situation.

It wasn't as though the bathroom didn't have accommodations for people until they got used to the onsen setting. There were closed showers in the same area, bathtubs as well. But to get to them, you had to take your clothes off in the room before all of the bathing equipment, then, if you were that modest, you'd have to have your towel wrapped around you to get to the rooms with the showers and such. It seemed that even with that, Allen was still not happy with the idea. For all of his politeness and accommodating behavior, that was one thing he wouldn't budge on.

Upon realizing that Allen was so modest, he realized that he'd never seen Allen without a shirt on. Not once, not ever, not even in the medical ward. And that was saying something. He'd seen Kanda without a shirt on plenty of times—the guy seriously had little to no self-preservative instincts sometimes—and he'd even seen Lenalee in her bra—that'd been an accident, the AKUMA had corrosive abilities and she wasn't about to lose a chunk of her skin because of toxic gender normativity. He'd seen his fair share of chests and breasts in his few years of life, but he'd never seen Allen's chest…or his back for that matter.

So when a casual conversation about pin-up girls began and Allen gave his take on the matter, he was surprised.

* * *

"I'd probably do it," Allen said, leaning back onto the wall that led down into the sandy training room.

The small group was gathered together, talking casually in their exercise clothes as they either spared together or spared alone with dummies. Initially it'd only been Kanda, but Marie had followed him, then Lavi, Lenalee, Chaoji, Krory, and Allen trailed their ways into the area. They'd talked about a lot of things, but the pin-up girl conversation had been Lavi's idea.

Chaoji almost choked on his drink. Kanda, though he acted like he wasn't listening, faltered a bit, almost getting smacked in the face by the spinning arm of a wooden dummy.

"Eh? You would?" Lenalee asked, just as surprised as the rest of them.

"Hmm?" he blinked up at her where she sat, her legs lying over the bend, "Oh, probably. I mean, it seems like it'd be a fairly easy thing to do if you got the hang of it."

"Heeeeh…I didn't think you were that kind of person, shorty," Lavi grinned.

"It's Allen," he glared, "but it doesn't seem like it'd be bad to do it. Sure, it's not appropriate all the time, but if you needed easy money or something…"

'Oh, that's what this is about,' they thought, noticing his aura get dark.

Lavi started laughing, "Oh man, I just imagined all of the different poses you could do, wait."

The red-head stood up from his perch before jumping down onto the sand in the arena. After landing, he struck a pose, one arm straight out, the other flexing, his front leg bent, "Now imagine me shirtless."

The group started laughing, Lavi pulling off several poses from old Greek statues, Lenalee and Krory alternatively describing them to Marie as he changed his pose. For his last one, Lavi faced his back to them, his right arm flexing, his left on his hip as he cocked it, peering between the window his arm made with a grin.

"I'm so made for the pin-up scene."

Allen rolled his eyes, "Of course, Lavi. Without a doubt."

"I sensed some sarcasm there."

"I can't help what you sense."

Lavi put on a distraught look, placing his hands over his heart, "Allen, you wound me."

"Heh, sorry, sorry."

"Hey, Kuro-chan, what kind of pose would you pull?"

"Eh?" Krory's face went a bit red, the man becoming flustered.

"Oh, c'mon, you have to have some idea!" Lavi climbed back up onto the wall, moving over to the older man.

"Uh—uhm…I wouldn't—"

Before Lavi could reach Krory, Lenalee stood to her feet. She slid her right foot forward before she cocked her hip leftward, bending over to put her right hand on her knee. She shifted her left hand into her hair, pushing some of the hair back as she gave him a mischievous smile.

"How's this?"

They all blushed at least a little.

"STRIKE!" Lavi cried, his eyes alight with joy as he moved his hands into a photo position, "Yes, yes, this is perfect! Absolutely perfect!"

Lenalee struck another pose as Lavi cheered over her and Allen grinned at the two. Secretly, Krory gave her a thumbs up, thanking her for distracting the hot-blooded boy. Chaoji cheered for her lightly as she posed, clapping his hands as he tried to find a way to cool the blush on his face down. Marie just chuckled at their antics.

"So...since you said you'd probably do it, what kind of pose would you throw out, Allen?" Lavi said, his target changing once again.

Allen seemed a little startled at the question, his face flushing lightly, "I don't know, really. I just thought I might do it."

"Oh c'mon Al-chan! You've gotta have an idea of a pose, right?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

"I want to see it, too!" Lenalee cheered, genuinely curious.

All of them started getting really curious once they noticed how embarrassed he was getting, looking off to the sides as the blush spread lightly across his nose.

"Ah, no…I—uhm…I really don't…"

"You have to have some idea!" Lavi said, a grin spreading across his face.

"Now I'm pretty curious…" Krory leaned over the wall just a bit.

Allen seemed to fidget with himself for a moment before he came up with an idea, "Wait, wait, this might not look right."

He activated his innocence, surprising them a bit. The watched as his claws grew on one hand and his white coat materialized, the back of his hair standing up. He gave a sigh, then, hiding his left hand with the cloak, he held it open as it slipped lightly off of his right shoulder. He held a tall stance, but tilted his body lightly to the right, his head tilting as well, holding his eyes only half open as he bit lightly at his lip.

"Uhmm…this is all I could think of."

The group stared at him for a moment, and if you listened closely, you could hear Kanda actually get hit by the training dummy that time.

Lavi carefully brought his hand up to his chin as he scrutinized Allen's pose. Lenalee was blinking rapidly, an embarrassed smile on her face as she flushed. Krory's jaw seemed to hang just a bit, and Chaoji had to stop drinking so he wouldn't choke himself. After Marie asked what he was doing, Krory described it to him, and Marie seemed to think about it as well.

"I didn't think I'd say this…" Lavi muttered, "but…"

Allen blinked at him, body twitching just a tad.

He gave the white-haired boy a thumbs up, "Strike."

Crowned Clown completely dissipated at that, Allen's face turning beet red, "What?"

"I agree, that was strangely sexy of you," Lenalee said, smiling lightly as she tried to cool her face down.

"I wasn't really expecting it either. You're pretty good at posing, Allen!" Krory cheered.

The boy waved his hands, "Nonononono, stop."

"Seriously, I'm honestly trying to cement that pose in my memory for all eternity. I mean, Lenalee's better, but you're not bad yourself. Not bad at all. I don't say 'Strike' to many guys, so take that compliment with pride."

"Many?" Lenalee asked.

Lavi shrugged, "One must appreciate both sides of beauty, you know?"

Allen was obviously flustered, but he seemed to be thinking about it. He gave them a look.

"If you saw me in a photo, how much money would you spend to buy it?"

"Allen, no," Lavi laughed, honest worry coming into his tone.

"Seriously. Even fully clothed, how much would you—"

"Allen, please," the humor was gone.

"It's an honest question," the nervousness was gone.

"Don't make me do this, oh my gosh."

"Lavi."

"Allen, no."

Said boy clicked his tongue, glaring off to the side.

"Oh God, you're not seriously mad at me right now."

"I'm trying to pay stuff off, and you introduce me to this option, now you're not even giving me a good gage on how to use it," he clicked his tongue again, the dark aura beginning to come off of him.

"Please tell me you're joking," Lavi said earnestly.

"I don't think he is, Lavi," Lenalee replied, surprised by his reaction as well.

"You're underage, Allen!" Lavi cried, sweat running down the side of his face, "I can't give you advice about modeling like that, that's illegal! This was just a joke, really…"

The thought seemed to click, finally, and the dark aura dissipated around him, "Oh…right."

Lavi sighed, "Geez, I didn't think you'd take it seriously."

Allen had an odd expression on his face, but he smiled embarrassingly, laughing lightly, "Yeah, yeah, sorry about that. You know how I get into zones like that."

He placed his hands on the top of the wall, pulling himself up, "I feel a bit hungry. Anyone coming with me?"

Lenalee laughed, knowing he didn't actually want anyone with him, "No, I'm good for another few hours. You go ahead." Krory and the others gave him a similar reply.

Allen turned to them and smiled again, though it didn't quite reach his eyes, "I'll go on then. See you all later." He then began jogging away from them lightly.

"Awwww…he got all polite again," Lavi grumbled.

"He's just embarrassed is all," Lenalee replied, watching after him worriedly.

Chaoji sighed, "Giving out photos like that wouldn't have been much more different then selling yourself on the street really."

"Whoa wait, that's very different," Lenalee turned to him, frowning.

That started a whole 'nother conversation, one that got a tad heated at points. Krory, not really knowing how to be in it, opted to train with Kanda instead, who had grown irritated with the dummy and agreed without too much glaring.

As Lenalee and Chaoji continued their conversation, Lavi glanced over to Marie, who was still looked off toward the way that Allen left.

"Everything alright, Marie?"

"Yes…" he said slowly, "I'm fine. I wonder about Allen, though."

"Hmm?"

Marie turned his head toward him, "It seems that Chaoji's comment upset him a bit. His heartbeat increased after he said it."

Lavi hummed, looking down the hall that Allen had disappeared down.

'I kinda regret bringing it up, now…'

* * *

Allen was still in the dining room when Lavi entered, feeling a bit hungry after sparing with Lenalee. He was sitting at a table alone, surrounded by empty plates, three more left. He seemed to be thinking, his eyes a bit cloudy, slowly eating on autopilot. Lavi watched him as he moved over to Jeryy's window.

"How long's he been like that?" the red-head asked.

The man sighed, "Since he got here. Poor dear, he's been eating slower than usual. You know, I had to ask him twice to tell me his order. Did something happen?"

"Not sure…probably…I'll have a shawarma, please."

"Lamb as usual?"

Lavi grinned, though it lacked its usual energy, "You know what I like."

Jeryy gave him a kind smile, "It'll be right out, sweetheart."

Lavi waved a thanks his way before heading over to Allen, who was still eating on autopilot, Timcanpy settled in his hair. He didn't even respond when Lavi sat down in front of him.

"Oooooi…shorty."

His eyes cleared a little as he glared up at Lavi, "It's Allen."

The teen grinned, "Nice to see you're awake. I thought you were sleep eating for a moment there!"

"No one sleep eats, Lavi," he replied, though the smile let him know he was getting cheered up, or acting like it at least.

The two joked around with each other for a while, only pausing once so Lavi could get his food. Allen had finished with his plates by the time Lavi took his third bite, so the two just talked with each other as usual without Allen mumbling through his chewing. After getting comfortable again, Lavi gave him an apologetic look.

"Hey…about earlier…"

Allen held his hands up, "Ah, don't worry about that. That was all me, really."

"No, I mean…I kind of forgot how you get about money sometimes, and I should've thought about that. It was just a joke, really."

"Yeah, but I was the one who took it too far. I'm not that desperate, but…" he shook his head, "A joke's a joke. None of it was your fault, really. I was just being too serious about something I shouldn't have been serious about," he grinned reassuringly, though it seemed some of the embarrassment came back.

"Allen…"

"Really, Lavi. It was my fault."

Lavi looked ready to fuss, but Allen was just as ready to deny any claims against his own. Lavi sighed, giving a dismissive gesture, "I guess."

Allen hummed in reply.

"…So, when's Two Dots supposed to be back?"

"Hmm? Not for a little while. He's doing some…business with Lvellie. I can only go on small missions because of it for now."

They continued talking on like that before they eventually went their separate ways. Though the situation wasn't completely resolved, it seemed resolved enough for the moment.


	2. Forza Furioso

**Hello dears.**

 **Here's the next installment…don't have much to say other than that, honestly.**

 **Thanks for the favorites, follows, and reviews I've gotten so far! How nice of you guys, and it's only the first chapter!**

 **Hope you enjoy this next one~**

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: Just letting off some inspirational steam, no copyright intended.**

* * *

The next morning found Allen and Lavi sitting on the couch in the main office, Komui looking at them seriously from his desk.

"This mission isn't too far away, considering Allen's current restraint, but it may turn out to be harder than originally anticipated. You both are going to Lincoln, England, where it appears that an innocence might be present. For some reason, no one can enter the Cathedral. Rather, it's not that they cannot enter, but they feel the inclination to do the opposite, regardless of what they were thinking upon getting there. Even the Finders have found themselves heading in the opposite direction of the Cathedral when they came out of their haze.

"I expect this one to be particularly tricky, unfortunately. It seems that there's an AKUMA who is guarding the place as well, not able to reach the innocence, but also keeping others away from it so someone can come retrieve it."

"Perhaps waiting for a Noah?" Lavi asked, eyes narrowing.

"Perhaps. We'd like for you two to retrieve the innocence before they can arrive and return as soon as you can. From what we can gather, the AKUMA is a Level 2 for now, thought that might have changed. Its previous abilities involved freezing a person in time, though that's all that could be gathered for now."

"We'll figure the rest out, Komui," Allen smiled, looking through his papers.

The man nodded at them, a fond look on his face, "We'll be leaving this to you two. You have a few minutes to pack, then you should be on your way."

The two exorcists stood to their feet and nodded, "Yes sir."

* * *

"An AKUMA that can stop someone's time, huh? Sounds freaky," Lavi said, standing out on the small boat's deck as they sailed out to England.

"It sort of makes me think of that one Level 2 that could disguise themselves as anything as long as it was symmetrical," Allen replied, looking out over the lightly rolling waves.

"Eugh. Just hearing that makes me queasy."

"Yeah. It had disguised as Toma at one point and Kanda couldn't tell the difference."

"Even Kanda couldn't tell? Well…huh, Tomato's pretty symmetrical, now that I think about it."

"Hmmmh," Allen opted to ignore the nickname.

"…Do you see it yet? I mean, does your eye see that far?"

Allen glanced over to him, "No, not yet. We're not in range. I should be able to by the time we're outside of Lincoln."

"Hmm…do you ever…y'know…get tired of seeing those souls?"

Allen looked over at him, not sure what he meant.

"I mean…that time I saw the soul when we were retrieving Kuro-chan, I kinda…" Lavi shrugged, "It was pretty creepy, seeing a soul like that, y'know."

He shook his head, "No, I don't get tired of seeing them."

"Really? How do you deal with it? Cause I guarantee you I'd probably be trying to gouge my eye out."

"Well…I figure this. It's a useful thing to see them, and I'm able to help many more get released because of my skill. I also save a lot of living people by keeping them from being killed by an AKUMA. So, no matter how painful it is to see them sometimes, it's more beneficial to have it than to not."

Lavi frowned a bit sadly, "But you're the one taking the brunt of everything, from trying to protect people to seeing decrepit souls."

Allen seemed to think for a second before smiling over to Lavi, "Well, it's been gifted to me. It'd be rude to not accept it."

The red-head closed his eyes with a shrug, "Would never ask you to not. Just wondering how you deal with it."

"…Steadily, I suppose."

"Heh, it's all we can do."

Allen smiled, "True."

* * *

Once they reached Skegness, they began a ride in a carriage to Lincoln. They didn't meet any finders until they reached a city closer to their destination, the two greeting them respectfully as they told them what they could.

"It's been really hard to get close to the Cathedral with this AKUMA around. A few finders are still stuck in time, it seems…" the shorter one began.

"We presume the effect will stop once one of you kill it. Anyway, we've noted that it seems to have a weakness toward bright lights, and it has the tendency to protect its stomach and eyes."

"Stomach and eyes?" Lavi asked.

"Yes. This AKUMA takes a form similar to that of what I presume is a spider."

He shuddered in reply, "Greeeaaaat. I love spiders. Adore them, even."

"Have the townspeople close by been affected by the AKUMA?" Allen asked, glancing over at them.

"Those in the immediate vicinity of the Cathedral and a bit further have been frozen in time, yes. The commander has been in contact with the government officials of the area, and we've been finding a way to cover this ordeal up. It's gotten rather public because the Cathedral is involved."

"Yeah, sounds like an innocence. So inconsiderate."

The taller finder chuckled a bit, "Yes, well, hopefully you two, as possessors of an innocence, will be able to get inside of the Cathedral to find it. We're thinking that it has been on a defensive mode, but that it won't be against you because you are Accommodators."

"Seems reasonable," Allen muttered, his eyes suddenly narrowing.

"Oi, you okay?" Lavi asked, patting Allen's shoulder.

"Yes…we've just gotten in range," he frowned a bit more, "I'm pretty sure it's a Level 3, now."

The shorter one cursed under his breath, "That completely messes up our data…you're basically going in blind…" he cursed again.

The other bowed, "We're terribly sorry for this…"

Lavi shrugged, grinning reassuringly, "Nah, it's fine. You did what you could."

"We'll handle the rest from here. And we'll do our best to help the other finders," Allen said, giving them his signature smile.

The finders looked at them with awe before they nodded, "We'll inform headquarters of what's happening once we get close. We probably won't be able to enter the town because of the innocence."

The two nodded, silently preparing themselves for battle.

* * *

Lavi whistled once they entered Lincoln's grounds.

The entire place was silent, practically a ghost town, and for a major city, it was actually pretty freaky. There was police tape among other things lining the city grounds, letting any invaders that got past their barriers further back that they weren't allowed close.

"Yikes, this place is a far cry from that barrier we went through to get here," Lavi said, twirling his hammer around in his fingers, "I mean, some of those people honestly tried to follow our carriage in. That's a mess. I wonder how they're supposed to cover this up later, y'know?"

Allen hummed lowly, his eye searching around for the AKUMA.

"Are you even listening?" Lavi asked.

"Hmmmm…"

"…You really have a thing for Kanda's ponytail."

"Hmmmm…"

"You have the hugest hair fetish, and you get really hot and bothered around Kanda."

"Hmmmm…"

"HA! I knew it!" Lavi grinned.

That got Allen's attention, "What?"

Lavi pointed at him, grinning widely, "The reason you're so angry around Kanda is actually the sexual tension between you and his hair!"

The white-haired boy stared at him like he grew a second head, nearly tripping over a bottle in the street, "Wait…what…when…"

"You confirmed my statements twice, no takebacksies!"

"No, I'm not attracted to Kanda or his hair," Allen scrunched his nose up.

Lavi's grin grew even more mischievous, "I never said anything about being attracted to Kanda, just his hair. You're the one who mentioned Kanda, you lovebird."

Allen's face flushed just a tad at the mistake, but his eyes still crinkled with his frown, "Lavi, seriously, I'm not…"

"Oh, it's okay! Your secret's safe with me! Tell you what, I'll try to hook you two up, how's that sound?"

He narrowed his eyes, which looked just a tad creepy with his cursed one, "You know what? You can shush."

"You're not denying it anymore," he sang.

"I'm done. This conversation is over."

Lavi just laughed in reply, happy to see the tips of Allen's lips curl up just a bit.

They walked in silence for a while, exploring the currently abandoned city. The closer they got, though, the more…statues they saw. When they first arrived, there hadn't been a single soul, but as they had walked, one to two began showing up, their bodies frozen in time.

It wasn't quite accurate to call them statues. Rather, their bodies seemed to be there, but they kept glitching, like they weren't supposed to be there, but there they were. Some were more colorful than the others, and the ones with more color glitched less than those who had less color. Even so, they kept moving forward to the Cathedral, eyes open and ears listening.

"The more gray ones must've been put on pause longer," Lavi said, glancing over at a frightened woman who'd been frozen in time.

"Seems so. I don't know what will happen when they become too gray…" Allen muttered, "Hopefully, it won't get to that point."

"You see the AKUMA close by?" he asked, getting more serious.

"Well…it's not close in normal standards. It's high up in the sky, probably so it won't be affected by the innocence."

"It can drop down at any time though, huh?"

"Yes, but I don't think we're close enough to the innocence for it to think of us as a threat."

"Peachy," he grumbled.

* * *

They were just under 200 meters away from the Cathedral when the Level 3 seemed to pop into existence behind them.

Allen and Lavi both jolted with how sudden it appeared, turning around to face the beast. It was tan, covered in armor that was shades of brown, its hair flowing in the wind strangely, like the sands of a beach. It didn't bother facing them as it opened its mouth to speak.

 **"My name is Horace. I am made with the soul of a scientist. I've selected the two of you for an experiment."**

"Shit, this isn't good," Lavi grumbled, "Innocence, Activate!"

Allen shrouded himself quickly in Crowned Clown, his eye set on the target.

 **"Hmmm,"** it seemed to just stand there, but then in the blink of an eye, it was on the ground, facing them, **"You don't seem pleased from being selected…I do prefer willing participants, but you will have to do."**

"As if!" Lavi glared, angling his hammer for any attack.

 **"…You seem more adamant against the experimentation, so…"**

Before they could blink, the Level 3 appeared before Allen, **"I suppose I shall start with you."**

Startled from the sudden move, Allen used his extending ability and shot into the air, "Lavi! Head for the Cathedral! I'll hold it off!"

Without another word, Lavi began sprinting to the church.

 **"Hmmm…well, that's no good. One is headed toward the innocence, but I've already chosen a target…hmmm…"** suddenly, it appeared before Allen again, **"Perhaps I shoul—achk!"**

Allen had been ready for it, though, and swiped his arm at the Level 3. It backed away quickly, not using its time abilities. Once it backed away enough from him, it growled.

 **"Rude! You should always wait for someone to finish speaking before you attack."**

"I don't know who made that rule, but I don't want to follow it."

It grinned, **"Fine,"** it appeared behind the exorcist, **"I will teach you some manners..."**

Allen swiftly turned around in the air, slashing at it again, but Horace had already moved to his side, kicking him roughly as he flew through the air and crashed into the top of a building. Before Allen could even blink, the creature was in front of him again, reaching out to grab his shirt. He narrowly avoided it, kicking the AKUMA's hand out of the way as he turned.

Before he could get his bearings, it grabbed the foot he kicked its hand with, and swung him through the air, slamming him down on the rooftop. Allen used the contact to his advantage, though, trapping the AKUMA's hand and using his foot to lock it in place. He flipped it down onto the roof along with him, grunting with the energy used.

Horace recovered quickly, **"You are quite troublesome, exorcist."**

"That's my job," Allen grinned, slashing at the AKUMA again.

 **"Hmmm…"**

Allen clamped around his left wrist with his right arm as he pulled, his arm quickly forming into the sword. He slashed it down toward the AKUMA, but it blinked out of existence, appearing right in front of him with its foot poised to kick his head. He quickly rolled out of the way, standing to his feet before he thrust the sword forward. The AKUMA didn't blink away, instead backing up. Allen quickly followed the thrust with another slash, but then it blinked away, appearing over the next rooftop.

Allen clicked his tongue, staying rooted in place, 'It's pausing my time and moving away, but how'd it do it before? It hadn't touched us before...unless its effect is in a certain area?' he glanced down at a frozen civilian on the street, 'Why then are they always paused?'

He didn't have much more time to think about it, the AKUMA blinking into existence behind him. Allen could feel it coming though, and he quickly ducked, slashing backwards toward Horace. It didn't blink again, sliding backwards to narrowly avoid getting hit.

'So it has a cool-down time…if I can time this right then—'

 **"Yes, your job. Don't you get tired of it,** _ **fıstık**_ **?"**

Everything that Allen had been thinking about fizzled away. His eyes went wide as he stared at the AKUMA. It simply grinned back at him.

Allen's hand clenched on his sword, "…How…why…did you call me that?"

It shrugged almost absently, **"It's a gift. I alter the sands of time, so I can see the sands that have already passed upon touching a person,"** it grinned, **"but to think an exorcist had such a history…it's riveting,** _ **meleğim**_ **."**

Allen slashed at it without thinking.

* * *

Lavi understood that Allen wasn't able to warn him, but he would've liked it.

He dodged yet another AKUMA bullet as a swarm of Level 2s flooded the area, grinning as they shot at him. He was able to resist fairly easily, but there were so many it was nearly overwhelming. Had he not had experience, Allen would be on his own.

Lavi rose his hammer, several seals appearing around him, " _Hi Ban: Gouka Kaijin!_ "

Upon hitting it on the ground, the fire snake formed, hissing loudly as it rose and began destroying a lot of the Level 2 AKUMA. Others attempted to dodge it, but the snake wasn't quite done with them, getting rid of all of the AKUMA in its path as Lavi ran below the ordeal, getting closer to the Cathedral.

'Where's Allen? That Level 3 must really be giving him trouble…'

Suddenly, he heard something burst and crumble behind him. Sparing a short glance, he watched as, a few meters away, an entire building turned to dust and rubble. In the very next moment, he watched something white burst out from the cloud of dust the former building had made, rushing toward the AKUMA.

'What? Something's not right…' he thought, but turned away, heading toward the innocence, 'I've got a bad feeling about this.'

He didn't dwell on the thought too long, another Level 2 rushing out in front of him, mouth wide open to show its gun barrel, **"Die, exorcist!"**

He grinned wryly, holding his hammer like a baseball bat, "Not in this lifetime."

Lavi smashed its face open before covering his face as he quickly rolled under it to avoid the miasma. He cheered lightly before facing forward.

Then he noticed it.

There was a man frozen in time on the left side of the walkway, his visage nearly completely gray. He did turn the color before it shifted into white noise, covering the man's entire body. Moments later, his body glitched several times, his shadow fading. Without a single noise, the man glitched completely out of existence, not leaving behind a single strip of clothing or the bag he'd been holding. He was completely gone.

He clicked his tongue, 'Shit…c'mon Allen, you need to kill that thing! I'll help you once I get this innocence…'

Unable to do much else, he sent his good wishes to Allen, keeping his forward movement through the winding streets.

* * *

Horace grinned as it faced off against the exorcist, the boy nearly completely engulfed with rage. He was still aware enough to protect the frozen citizens on the ground and in the buildings, but the boy didn't think a single thing as he swung his sword at it.

 **'Yes, yes, submit yourself to your anger, it'll make this much easier…'**

Horace landed on another building, the boy following closely, even leaving a dent in the roof once he landed.

 **"My my,** _ **kuzucuğum**_ **, you're so hasty. Perhaps you should slow down?"**

Allen merely growled, slashing at the AKUMA again. The AKUMA blinked in behind him instead, reaching for him with a grin. He had to jump back hurriedly though, Allen reaching back and slashing at it without looking.

 **"Ohh! Feisty, aren't you?"**

"Shut up," Allen muttered, turning around and jabbing at it.

Allen kept moving forward at the AKUMA, the demon taunting him as he backed away, dodging his advances.

 **"I didn't think you'd be so forward,** _**çiçeğim**_ **."**

"I said shut up!"

 **"What happened to that politeness from before? Do you need to be retra—"**

Allen's thrust was toward its head this time, his face contorted in fury. The AKUMA simply grinned, subtly circling around an area as Allen slashed at anything in between his sword and the AKUMA. Horace hummed lightly before it decided to blink away.

Suddenly the world slowed, all sound ceasing. There were no birds chirping, or buildings crumbling. Just pure silence, the surroundings taking a bluish hue.

 **'My ultimate ability: Time Skip. While it can only be active for a few moments, it's enough to get behind this child. I'm much too great for this exorcist,'** it grinned.

A sword just barely missed his neck, a cut forming in it as black blood spurted from it. Horace jumped back, covering its neck in shock as it glared angrily at the boy he was fighting. Allen growled at the AKUMA, rushing forward with his sword poised.

 **'He's moving? But how?! Only I can use Time Skip!'**

The AKUMA blinked back into existence, Allen nearly slicing it in two with his next attack. It growled in return, beginning to throw punches as it tried to give itself time to use Time Skip again. Allen didn't do much to defend himself, getting hit by some of the punches, but with just as many times he was hit, Horace was cut into as well.

Once it knew it was time, it activated Time Skip again, the world slowing to a stop once again.

Where he expected Allen to cease action, the boy rushed forward, his left eye glowing in anger. He landed a good blow, slashing the demon across its chest as it cried out in pain.

 **"You! How do you use my powers against me?! Wha—"**

Allen didn't have to respond, the AKUMA feeling a tug on its ankle as it backed away from him as quickly as possible. Upon looking at its ankle, it finally noticed that a strip from Crowned Clown was wrapped around it.

 **'This bastard…he's traveling with me!'**

The AKUMA aimed an attack toward the strip of innocence, but it didn't budge or break. Instead, it tightened on the demon before pulling it swiftly toward Allen, Time Skip deactivating. The boy poised his weapon, ready to attack once the demon was close enough to him. It cursed loudly, twisting its body away just in time to avoid being completely cut.

It did lose an arm, though.

 **"Ghhh…fuuuck!"** it screeched, moving its other leg to kick Allen in the face.

It didn't kick strong enough though, and Allen caught it with another strip from his cloak. In an almost deja view moment, he slammed the AKUMA into the roof of the building they were standing on. Allen swiftly removed the leg it held, listening blankly as it cried out in pain.

"I'm sorry it has to be this way," he said, his voice colder than it usually would be, "but this has to end now."

He placed the end of his sword directly against the AKUMA's chest, ready to stab it down.

Horace coughed, laughing, **"Don't I get any final words, exorcist?"**

"No."

 **"Well, that's a shame,"** it grinned up at him, **"Then I can't warn you about how many people are about to die."**

Before Allen could ask, he heard something crumble behind him. When he turned around, the tops of some of the buildings that had tower-like structures began to fall.

There were still people frozen in time in the streets.

"No!" he cried, turning away from the AKUMA as he rushed forward to save the people.

Without a single thought, he dived down into the street, finding a group of frozen people, including a finder. He reached for one, but he couldn't get them to move. He cursed, noticing the pile of bricks and iron heading straight for them. Instead, he reached his cloak out as he covered the group.

Moments later, it took the brunt force of pounds of rubble dumping onto it. Allen flinched with the stress, but he'd taken more before. Hearing another building begin to fall in another street, he dumped the rubble off of his cloak onto an open part of the road before he rushed off to save another group. Each time he protected a group, it was a larger amount of people, and a heavier weight of rubble. At one point, he nearly missed a person, but saved them at last minute, small pebbles settling into their hair where originally a whole wall would've fallen upon them.

'Did I destroy these? Shoot, if I hadn't been so reckless…' he thought, panting as he dumped off the last pile of bricks and iron.

Suddenly, he felt a presence behind him, but before he could so much as gasp, a hand clamped onto the back of his head. He felt his body stop, unable to move.

Within moments, he was frozen in time.

The AKUMA laughed, balancing itself well on one leg, **"I knew you'd make this easy for me."**

It let his head go, watching as Allen's eyes went blank as his powers began to affect him.

 **"All I had to do was prepare for the future. Like I said, I alter the sands of time. It's not perfect, but I can see what happens in the future of the sands. Perhaps I will be better at it once I mix with others to become a Level 4? No…by then, I won't need this power…"** it set its hand on his shoulder, **"I won't bother looking in the future now. That other boy will be easier to get rid of. I'm glad I chose you to see if I could do it, though. As my gift to you, I'll let you experience what your human friends are."**

It wrapped his hand around Allen's neck, though it didn't choke him, grinning as its eyes popped up on its helmet, staring into Allen's blank ones from the side.

 **"Rewind. From here on out, you'll be reliving your past from now to your birth. Well, once you set time at the beginning, there's no past, is there? Nothing to base you off of. Without a base, what are you? A concept, a thought. Without anyone to think you up, there will be no one to set you on 'play' again."**

It leaned in to Allen's ear, even if he couldn't hear it.

 **"Relive your younger years once more then cease to be,** _ **küçük fahişe**_ **."**


	3. Affrettando

***looks around shifty-eyed***

 **So, I'm guessing some of you can tell where this is going now, especially if you know [REDACTED]. I have an absolutely horrible sense of imagination, wow.**

 **Thanks for all of the follows, favorites, and reviews! I really appreciate it!**

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: *shakes my head* I ain't no thief, copper!**

* * *

After having ducked left and right into nooks and crannies in the walkways to the Cathedral, Lavi burst through the doors of its West Front hastily before he closed them, the remaining Level 2s no longer able to get closer to the church, but still sending bullets his way. Some got far enough to pierce the door, breaking through the wood before it hit the ground and rolled. Lavi cringed at the damage that it caused before he pushed off them and ran through the West Porch to get to the Nave.

As he ran through the large hall, part of him marveled at its size, the area towering with a strange, holy beauty. He could see a few shadows from the Level 2s flying in the way of the Sun's rays, casting haunting shadows on the hall through the stained glass windows. Lavi huffed, but kept running until he got to St. Hugh's Choir.

"Okay, okay, it let me get close cause I'm an Accommodator, like the finders said it would. Now…if I were an innocence, where would I hide?" he grumbled to himself, looking around the Choir area for anything suspicious.

He searched the books, the pews, and the scepter-like thing near the middle of the room, everywhere. He even gave the chandelier in the room the stink eye. He heard more shots and he cringed, knowing that the AKUMA didn't care about damaging the chapel.

"Where are you, Moyashi? Not done with the Level 3 yet?"

Worry set in his soul about the young exorcist, but he couldn't spare too much of a thought for it. They had to find the innocence, kill all of the surrounding AKUMA if they could, then get out of dodge. He searched the whole Choir, but there wasn't anything strange or special.

"He'll be fine, he'll be fine. We've faced off against a Noah, he can do it…but shiiit…this is taking way longer than it needs to," he growled, "I can't search this whole cathedral for the blasted thing!"

He scratched at his head, irritated, but jolted and ducked at the sound of glass breaking, an AKUMA bullet smashing through one of the carefully designed stained glass windows into the church.

"Dammit, let me think for a second!"

* * *

Something drained at Allen's very existence.

It was like a pulling sensation at the core of his stomach, and it tugged relentlessly, almost as if pulling him back through all of the years he'd lived. The drain would slow when it came to especially happy or sorrowful memories, as if it took longer to process them.

He felt time slow as he relived the bittersweet victory against the first Level 4.

Then again during the return to the Order after the battle within the Ark.

Again at each loss and victory within the Ark.

Again upon activating the new form of his innocence.

Again at losing to Tyki and nearly losing his life.

Again at Suman's death.

Again upon finding and saving Krory.

It drove him back faster and faster, the emotions flashing through him either like a wildfire or like a slow burn. It was pure torture, feeling everything at the same time, yet at different times. And with each passing memory, it faded away in his mind, as if it never happened. The more recent it was, the less he remembered it. He felt like it was dangerous, but then he couldn't remember why that was.

As he rewinded through his memories, he felt himself change, even his clothes. He felt like he was getting shorter and smaller, and the feeling of his clothes changed on his skin as each memory was stolen away from him. He wasn't sure if he should be concerned, but then he couldn't imagine doing so, another memory flashing through his mind before he really had time to think.

It slowed again after Lala's death.

Again after saving Claire.

Again after hitching a ride with the circus heading to London, laughing along with their jokes as they performed for him.

Again after killing a small AKUMA child.

Again after having dinner with a kind family, being careful to not empty their pockets.

Again after waking up to find he'd been left in India.

Again after he had a talk with his master about what the Black Order was like, and growing a tad fearful at his description of it.

Again after he had narrowly escaped being chased by his master's debt collectors.

Again after he watched Cross drink himself into a stupor upon learning something new about him.

By then, if he could still really feel his body, he'd know he was shrinking more rapidly, his growth spurt not really hitting him until he'd turned 13, which had annoyed Cross to no end, having to constantly buy him new clothes to fit him. He would've laughed at the memory, but he was beginning to forget that one, too. He was forgetting everything…

Then it was like everything stopped, an immense joy flooding his system.

"… _Hey, what's your name, kid?"_

 _He blinked up to the tall man, still shocked over what just happened, "Ah…uhm…I...they call me Eser…I tol'ja this before…sir…"_

 _The man scowled, making him cower, "No, that's not what I…hey, don't cower like that. I'm not angry at you."_

"… _Wha'd'ya mean?"_

" _What's the name they took from you? Do you remember what your name was before?"_

 _He stared up at the red-headed man as tears began to well up in his eyes, remembering things from the past. It took him a moment to actually answer, tears freely falling from him._

"… _Allen…t'was Allen, sir…"_

 _The man placed a gentle hand on his head and rubbed it back and forth, prompting him to look straight into his eyes. Though the other seemed to have a certain slyness to him, his smile was genuine._

"' _Allen' huh? Allen Walker…doesn't sound bad to me. That's your name from here on out, got it?"_

 _He stared at the man for a moment before he could feel his face scrunch up as more tears spilled from his eyes. He rushed forward, clinging to the man with as much strength as he could muster, simply bawling into his side._

" _Master!"_

Allen really was crying now, remembering how his master had started trying to push him away, complaining that he'd get snot into his clothes, holding him up so he could cry in the open air. He wouldn't tell anyone, but it was one of his most treasured memories…

Why then…

Why was he forgetting it?

The emotion that was attached to the memory wasn't fading, but the memory itself was. It was as if it was being ripped away from him…but…

But he didn't want to forget!

He didn't want to forget that time! It wasn't like he didn't want to forget whatever else he'd forgotten, but this memory…this memory especially! He didn't want it to fade away.

Though he couldn't move, something in him reached out to that fading memory, ignoring the other ones that began to rush into him, making him feel sick to his stomach at the emotions that came attached with them. He didn't want to remember this stuff! He didn't want to forget that moment!

With that thing inside of him, he reached out further, calling for the memory to come back, reaching desperately for it to return.

When he found that he almost couldn't remember what he was reaching out for anymore, he opened his mouth into a scream and reached further, not wanting to lose it, no matter what.

Something cracked.

He reached further, silently screaming out into the gray that threatened to swallow him whole. He felt his entire left side heat with an energy that he remembered, but wasn't focused on.

It cracked some more.

He tried his best to push aside the depression and anguish that came with the other memories that he was beginning to forget. He pushed them all away as he reached for a memory that was almost too far gone. He wouldn't give up. He couldn't.

He wouldn't forget.

It cracked too much.

* * *

In the middle of the street in Lincoln, England, a graying boy stood among the remaining humans frozen in time. There were fewer than there had been before, some of them already having succumbed to the AKUMA's power. They stood like statues in the silent street, a distant booming heard near the Cathedral.

Suddenly, the boy, whose silvery blue eyes were wide open and bleak, cracked. After a few moments, he cracked further, black lines starting at his left eye as they spread over his face. The cracks continued on down his neck, his torso, his legs, until his whole body was covered with it. If there had been a listening soul around, they would've heard a young child screaming from within him.

Finally, as the cry escaped from the body, a large, silver, clawed hand burst from out of his face, the cross on the back of its palm glowing brightly. The cracked skin fell away, revealing the smaller body inside of it, the child's arm outstretched as the energy holding them in the air dissipated. The child's arm deactivated, becoming smaller as the child fell to the ground, unconscious. His clothes billowed lightly around him until they settled on the ground with him.

Without another soul near, the child rested.

* * *

Though his endeavors to find the innocence were met with no results, by that time Lavi nearly didn't care. Even though he'd been trying to find the innocence quickly and escape from his self-inflicted prison so that the Cathedral wasn't too damaged, he was pretty sure that it was futile at that point. He was more worried about the lack of reply from Allen.

"Where the heck is he?" Lavi muttered, pausing his search through the Angel Choir in the east most side of the church, sitting up on his knees from where he'd been searching under a pew, "He should've been back by now, at least…he wouldn't be…"

Lavi shook his head, "Naaah, no, he's fine. He's just…clearing out some Level 2s or something. I've got to hurry back, if I could just find this damn innocence!"

Thinking about the Level 2s called his attention to something, though. Ever since he'd gotten closer to the Angel Choir, there hadn't been any interference by the AKUMA, not even with a bullet.

"…Nooooo…"

He turned to look at the Angel's Choir altar, the light rays gleaming around the area.

"Nooo…"

There was a cross sitting right there on the podium.

"No."

Lavi stood to his feet, eye wide as he glared over at the cross like it personally offended him.

"No."

He stepped over the railing that separated the altar from the pews.

"Don't you dare."

He walked stiffly up the short stairs.

"Don't you even…"

He stared at the cross.

"Don't. No."

He picked it up and inspected it. Then he leaned his head back, breathing a sigh of relief when he couldn't see any signs of it being the innocence.

"Thank God, if this had been it, I would've flipped a table."

When he opened his eye, he suddenly noticed something attached to the ceiling. Frowning, he shifted over to the left a bit, and the view of it became hazy. Shifting back to the middle, it cleared out, then to the right, and it became hazy again. Once he shifted back to the middle, he took notice of what it looked like. From what he could see, it was a teardrop shaped thing, just hanging from the ceiling.

And you couldn't see it unless you were standing in the right place.

Lavi's face contorted into the most disgusted look he could muster.

"I really hate innocence sometimes," he growled, taking his hammer out and placing it against the ground, "Ozuchi Kozuchi, Shin…"

Holding onto the end of the staff of his hammer, he rose up to the innocence's position, his face still twisted with disgust, "Seriously, I've been busting my ass looking for you, and here you are, playing hard to get and being a dumb cocoon and shit while my friend's out there fighting what I assume is a stupidly powerful Level 3. Get your priorities straight, you glowing gumball."

Once he got up to the right height, he stared at it from up close. It really was a teardrop-shaped cocoon attached to the top of the Cathedral without a care in the world, except it pushed away any normal person headed to the place. The innocence seemed to have melded itself with the ceiling, and Lavi shuddered, reaching a hand out to touch it. It was warm and pulsing, but at least it wasn't wet.

"Hoookay…I'm going to move you, now. You will be detached from your home. When I do this, please don't throw a hissy fit and stop doing your 'strangers no touchy' thing, okay? I'm an Accommodator, I'm your friend. Friends help each othe—"

He carefully detached it from the ceiling as he said it, and he could feel the effect of the innocence retreat inside of the cocoon-like casing. He could also hear the rumble of AKUMA as they realized that the exorcist they were trailing had gotten to the innocence first.

"I can't even begin to express how rude you are."

Lavi didn't bother decreasing Ozuchi Kozuchi's size, simply leaning the hammer forward as it sent him toward the ground. He called for it to extend as he did it though, and by the time he reached the bottom, it dropped him into St. Hugh's Choir.

He was very glad to get that running start, because he could hear AKUMA burst in.

'Shit, shit, shit, shit, gotta find Allen!'

He made it out of the Choir before the AKUMA started shooting at him again in the Nave. With a grumble, he rose his hammer to the air, seals appearing around him.

" **I'm afraid you've no need to do that, exorcist."**

Lavi's visible eye widened in horror.

* * *

In the middle of a Lincoln street, a child groaned as they woke up. He slowly sat up as he shook his head, trying to see straight. He blinked lightly as he tried to center himself, but once he could see clearly, he gasped and backed himself into a wall.

"Wh…what is…where'm I?"

He looked around left and right as he crossed his arms to ground himself, only seeing a few people who were slowly turning gray, their bodies glitching lightly where they stood. The boy gave them a frightened look, not sure what was going on. Even so, for some reason, he felt like he was supposed to be there anyway, and he could feel himself calm a little. Suddenly, his left eye began to react, his sclera turning black as his iris changed into red rings in his eye. With the change, he looked over to the Cathedral, where a large gathering of souls was.

"Oh...why're they there?" he wondered aloud with a frown, disgust coloring his features as he stood to his feet, crossing his arms, "They ne'er group up like that 'nless there's somethin' for 'em to shoot…"

The boy glanced down the opposite way, 'I could leave cause I dunno where I am, but…'

He glared back over to the Cathedral, 'I don't really wanna leave any of those things alive…not when they'rall contorted like that. 'Sides, whoever's stuck there probably don't deserve it.'

Nodding to himself with his resolve, he began to jog lightly over to the church, all the while being watchful for any surprise attacks on himself.


	4. Trionfale

**私はほんとにかわいいですねｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗｗ**

 **Ah, lol, just having fun with Windows 10. The sound messes up sometimes, but I think it's mostly worth it since my Japanese keyboard actually works with this update instead of Windows 7, which is what I had previously. All I need now is for them to fix the sound glitches and I'll be as right as rain.**

 **I also need to learn more Japanese.**

 **Anyway, thanks for your faves, follows, and reviews so far! I really look forward to reading what you're thinking about the story so far. あなたたちはほんとにすごいです！！**

 **Please enjoy.**

 **Edit (8/18):** **Ah,** Fanboygirl **has revealed that I've been mistaken for a while about** **は and わ, haha...ehh... *cringes at the cringing***

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: いいえ、私は泥棒でわないです。（Google Translateはほんとにわるいな。。。）**

* * *

Lavi kept his eyes solidly on the Level 3 before him, taking in its appearance. It was missing an arm and a leg, and it was heavily damaged, gashes all along its body, but it wasn't dead.

That concerned him the most.

" **I presume you wonder where your friend is, exorcist?"** it chuckled lowly, the giggling from the Level 2s making everything worse.

The redhead didn't respond, holding the Innocence close with one hand while holding his hammer in the other, the seals still surrounding him as he prepared himself to yell out any order that he'd need to.

" **I'll be gracious enough and let you know that I've sent your friend back in time. He's rewinding right now is all."**

'Rewind…?' his eyes widened a tad, 'No way, is that what those other people are doing? He got caught?'

The demon hissed in pain as it twitched, its body still dripping with blood from the heavy wounds that Allen had inflicted on him, **"He was very troublesome as an experiment subject. He even used my own powers against me for a while, such a rude little thing!"**

It laughed, the others joining in with it as Lavi braced himself further. In doing so, he didn't notice the West Entrance doors open just a tad, a small child peeking into the Cathedral with a frightened but determined gaze.

" **But I'll be fine after a while. You see, those people give me energy when they disappear after rewinding completely."**

Just as it said it, the deep gash on its chest twitched before closing slightly, and it grinned, the Level 2s around it beginning to cheer, circling the lone exorcist.

" **See? It's an interesting process. I'll be able to obtain the energy from each person I rewind…including your friend. I put him on a faster rewind process than the rest of them,"** it grinned, its eyes popping out from its helmet, **"I cannot wait for the boost I'll get from consuming all of his energy."**

'Like hell!' Lavi slammed his hammer down, a seal order on the tip of his tongue.

The Level 3 appeared right beside him, hand poised to stab, **"Don't forget who you're up against, Experiment 2."**

He just barely managed to dodge the hand coming his way, swinging the hammer toward Horace. It backed away quickly though, a Level 2 being caught by the swing instead. With the nod of its head, the other Level 2s began to attack Lavi. One with sharp talons flew over to his left side, ready to scourge him, but Lavi could see it coming. He made sure his feet were solid on the ground before he twisted his body, the hammer's head smashing into the AKUMAs. He quickly righted himself and spun his hammer, deflecting a load of AKUMA bullets that were sent his way.

The Level 3 watched from further away, taunting him with a triumphant sneer. Lavi gritted his teeth as he pulled the cocoon-like Innocence closer to his body, only able to use one hand on his Innocence.

* * *

Allen's eyes had been wide before when first arrived, but now his jaw was dropping.

'W-wha? Why're all these monsters so weird-lookin'? Why's that one different from the other ones?' he turned his gaze to the redhead, 'And who's tha' guy? He's not doin' too bad!'

He cringed as the guy narrowly avoided an attack by a baby-looking monster, his shirt tearing in the process before he was able to back away from them. The monsters were on his tail though, and the heavily injured one was floating around, just watching.

'He…he can't handle'm all…I…I gotta…'

He chewed on his lip for a moment as he searched the room.

'Maybe I ca' help…if he dies, they'll be afta me for sure…'

He noticed that the pillars weren't being watched, so he carefully entered the room, trying to not make a sound. Once he closed the door, he rushed forward, hiding behind a pillar as he inched his way closer to the battle. He had to cover his mouth to not squeak once a deflected bullet soared past him. He gave the redheaded man a frustrated glare, his body shaking with the sudden bout of fright.

'Geez fucker! I'm try'na come help ya!'

He glanced down to his left arm, the limb covered from shoulder to fingers in medical wraps. His lips trembled for a moment, but he felt it heat as he began to activate it.

'He bett'r not freak if he sees me…'

* * *

A bulbous Level 2 rolled in the air as it was pushed back by with a smack from the exorcist's hammer. It cried out in pain as its fellow AKUMA pushed it aside, rushing forward to get a hit in and kill the redheaded human. It took it a moment, but after some effort it righted itself in the air. It growled as it looked back over to the battle.

" **GUh, idiots! I want another shot at the exorcist! They better give me a chan—eh?"**

When the monstrous thing glanced over to its left it noticed something shine from behind a pillar. It gleamed silver for just a moment before it pulled behind the structure.

The AKUMA smiled, **"Oooh? Something else is in here? You don't feel like an AKUMA, so what are you?"**

The beast floated closer to the pillar, its grin spreading out on its face.

" **Come out, come out, little thing! I can see you…"** it held onto the pillar as it tried to look.

" **I can smell y—"**

Suddenly, the beast found its face grasped by the silver thing that it had seen gleam in the light, the claws digging into its face. Its eyes widened once it noticed that it was attached to the body of a small boy dressed in silk, the boy glaring with some fear at him as the silver thing clamped down harder and harder, beginning to crush its face. He covered his nose and mouth with his other hand, scrunching his face up.

"D-don'say stuff like that. It's creepy..."

Moments later, the AKUMA's face was crushed, and the thing collapsed to the ground, body twitching as it began to ooze its deadly miasma.

* * *

As Lavi slammed his hammer into another Level 2s face, he began noticing that some weren't reappearing as he thought they would. As much as he would try, every hit he'd make wouldn't be a fatal one, not with the Level 3 occasionally throwing him off of his rhythm and nearly getting him killed—though the bastard thing was confident enough to sit back and watch the fight most of the time.

Horace seemed to start to notice it too, though, as it was taking its eyes off of him more often than before, coming forward to attack him more often as more people lost themselves to the rewind. He wasn't sure what was going on, but he was glad for whatever was happening.

At least he would be if he weren't just barely avoiding getting the shit beat out of him.

He was covered with scratches and scars, his shirt torn and turning a light red from some of his spilt blood. Even the exorcist jacket hadn't been enough to hold back some of the hits. If he could use both hands, he knew it'd be a lot easier to maneuver, but he was still protecting the Innocence.

'If I can just kill the Level 3, it should release Allen, then he can help…but dammit, I can't with all these bastards coming down on me!'

He clenched his teeth as he swung his lightly injured arm, bringing it down onto an AKUMA's head, causing it to explode. He backed up quickly, trying to get a good count of the remaining AKUMA.

'One, two, three…six, seven, eight…wait, where's the—shit!'

As he deflected another AKUMA bullet, Horace appeared behind him once again, preparing to bring its foot down. He jolted forward to avoid the hit, but an AKUMA was right there waiting for him. It slammed into his left side diagonally, causing him to gasp out in pain, his left arm loosening. Before he could clench his hand down, the cocooned Innocence flew out from his hand as it rolled on the ground away from him. He tried to move forward to grab it, but the AKUMA who had knocked into him slammed down again onto his back, pinning him there as it cracked the floor.

"AGh!" he cried out, both from the pain and from his anger at losing his grip.

The Level 3 grinned at him, floating closer to the pinned exorcist, **"Like I said, Experiment 2, remember who you are battling."**

The other Level 2s laughed, some floating toward the innocence to destroy it. Horace placed its remaining hand on its chin, its wounds sizzling from the healing factor of absorbing the life-force of those being rewinded. Lavi struggled more, needing to destroy it before Allen would be absorbed.

" **Now…let me think…what should I test on you? I tested my ability to glimpse the future with him, but with you, I think I should do something even more special…oh, right,"** the AKUMA waved its hand absentmindedly, **"You assistants, go ahead and destroy that Innocence."**

They laughed at the order, rushing forward to destroy it.

"No!" he struggled more, but to no avail, the AKUMA on top of him pushing him down further.

" **Yes, yes, now…oh…"** its eyes popped out on its helmet, the AKUMA leaning in toward Lavi's face as it reached its hand toward him, smirking, **"I know just what to do with you…"**

It paused when one of the Level 2s headed to the Innocence exploded into miasma, the other two closet to it blown back by some force, smashing into the ground near where Lavi was pinned. All of them looked shocked by the move, and Horace turned around to face the way they'd came from. As the miasma cleared slowly, Lavi gasped and the Level 3's teeth gnashed audibly.

There was a clawed silver hand poised in the air, the back of the hand glowing green with Innocence. Even though it looked smaller than he'd ever seen it, it didn't look any less menacing.

'Isn't…isn't that Allen's Innocence? He escaped?! But…why is it like that?'

His thoughts halted as he felt a wave of Dark Matter grow, surrounding the Level 3. Its eyes were all revealed, its remaining hand clenching tightly as the air around it

" **You…little…"**

Once more of the miasma faded away, Lavi was finally able to see Allen, and his jaw nearly dropped. The boy was much smaller than before, probably somewhere beginning to push closer to five feet tall, though he was still under that. His hair was a bit longer and messier but still white as ever, they boy partially using his hair to block the explosion.

What really shocked him was his clothes. He was covered with red silk clothes, the neck of it covered by a golden collar-like band, which he also had around his ankles. It had no sleeves and didn't cover his shoulders, the part of the top connected with the collar-like band looping under his arms loosely until it presumably connected on the other side. The top section of his clothes seemed to sag just a bit once it reached just above his hips, where a loose V-shape of golden bangles sat, the rest of the silk reaching down near his ankles, where two other golden bands were fastened.

The right side of the cloth was slit starting from the golden bangles, where his right leg was left partially uncovered, and if Lavi looked closely, he could see a black strip of cloth almost right below the V-shape on the right side as well. His right arm was covered from below the wrist to near his elbow with a long golden band, and if his Innocence wasn't active, he could almost bet that his other arm had the same on it. He wore flat red shoes which bent with his feet easily.

It was easy to tell that his clothes weren't English, and not really meant for a kid…whatever age he was.

After a moment, Allen brought his face away from being curled into his chest, one silvery-blue and one red and black eye glaring over at the Level 3 as he tightened his hold on the Innocence nestled in his arm. The other Level 2s glared down at the child as he slowly stood to his feet, curling his Innocence around his body as he made himself as small as possible, his body lightly shaking with what Lavi could guess was fear.

Rightfully so though, as Horace seethed angrily, its body trembling with fury.

" **You little…how did you escape? What did you do to escape the Rewind?!"**

The boy stopped glaring, blinking up in cautious confusion, "Uhmm…wha?"

" **You heard me you little twat!"** it roared, Dark Matter fluctuating in his aura, **"What did you do to escape my clutches?! How dare you continue to be such trouble!"**

He backed up two steps, eyes wide with fear, "I…I dunno wha' you're talkin' about…I jus' woke up here!"

The AKUMA blinked right in front of Allen.

" **Then go back to sleep!"**

The boy squeaked in fright, startled by the AKUMA's sudden appearance. Before it could really attack him, he closed his eyes and swung at it, knocking it to the side and into the wall.

Lavi could see an opening when one's made. With the AKUMA on top of him distracted, he stuck his arm out in front of him, angling his wrist back toward the demon.

" _Ozuchi Kozuchi, Shin!_ "

The hammer extended at his order, and its head flew up quickly and smacked the AKUMA above him, making its head explode at the contact. With the weight gone, he scurried to his feet, noticing that the other Level 2s were beginning to snap out of their surprise.

One of the Level 2s rushed forward to Allen, its spindly fingers outstretched. The boy cried out again and knocked it to the ground as he backed away, his claws piercing its back though not killing it. Hearing it cry out, he pulled his hand away, turning around as he fixed to run.

Horace blinked into existence in front of him, hand outstretched as it bled from its most recent wounds. Allen's pupils dilated, panic clutching at his heart.

" **I said SLEEP!"** it screeched.

The AKUMA was knocked back though, the head of Lavi's hammer hitting it in the stomach. Before Allen could move, he gasped as he felt an arm wrap around his waist and pull him close. Noticing that the arm wasn't trying to hurt him, he looked up, still clutching the Innocence.

Lavi grinned down to the boy, "Mind pulling your arm in for me, short stuff?"

The noise he made in reply was a mix between a squeak and a hum, but he obeyed the redhead nevertheless, wrapping his arm around the two of them.

"Even better," he said with a smile before he glared over to the discombobulated Level 3, "Hey Sandy!"

The AKUMA twitched from where it stood, clutching its stomach, the gash that Allen made earlier having reopened. Horace's eyes, filled with fury, looked up to stare at the exorcist.

Lavi smiled as the seals showed up, floating around the two of them in a circle, "Try blinking away from this, asshole…" he brought his hammer down.

" _Konbo Ban: Gouraiten!_ "

The AKUMA's eyes widened, feeling a surge of power. Suddenly, a ring of fire appeared, surrounding the two as something vicious let out a mighty screech. As the flames receded a bit, Horace watched as an iron snake covered with fire appeared, roaring loudly as it began to rush toward it. It knew it didn't have time to use Time Skip…it used it to try and get rid of the now small exorcist.

It grinned, watching as its demise approached in an inferno.

" **Shit…"**

Within moments, its body was consumed in flames, the snake not stopping its line of destruction, rushing around to destroy the remaining Level 2s. It left searing burns on some of the building, but it did its job. And just as suddenly as the battle had begun, it ended, the exorcists as its standing victors.

Lavi sighed in relief as his Innocence deactivated, tired from all of the fighting as he released his hold on Allen.

'Right…with the Level 3 dead, everyone who's still alive should go back to normal…'

He looked over to his left, expecting to see some sort of transformation occurring, his friend returning to him. Instead, he had to look down and blink at an absolutely shell-shocked kid beside him, his Innocence still activated and wrapped around the two of them.

"Uhm…shorty?"

Allen's whole body jolted, his arm deactivating from the surprise. Just as Lavi had predicted, his left arm also had the same long golden band covering his forearm, though he also had medical wraps covering the dark, Innocence-afflicted skin. The boy shivered lightly, looking up at the young man, both eyes silvery-blue.

"You okay, Allen?"

"Uh…ah…yah…" he muttered, still shocked.

"…You sure?"

"Uhm…I…think so?" Allen tilted his head to the left, "Ermmm…mister?"

'Mister…Oh no.'

The boy looked down at the cocoon Innocence for a moment before he glanced off to the side.

"…How d'ya know m'name?"


	5. Delicato

**Man, de-aging fics, amirite?**

 **Thanks for all of the support I've gotten so far with the favs, follows, and reviews!**

 ***sees one particular review* *attempts to respond to it, but is unable to without spoilers***

 **Anyway, stay shiny! *jazz hands***

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: You wouldn't think it, but the Sonic Unleashed OST is amazing for background music when writing.**

* * *

Lavi felt very fortunate that they'd been fast enough to save some of the Finders that had been caught in the Rewind, not just because they saved their lives, but also because he wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle the situation all on his own.

As the recently awake Finders attempted to help move the normal people—for some reason, perhaps something psychological, the townspeople had yet to wake up—they allowed Lavi and Allen to sit on the steps of the pretty well wrecked cathedral. The Finders looked over Lavi's wounds and helped wrap them, but…Allen wouldn't really let them too close, more often than not moving behind the redhead for some form of protection.

To an extent, he could understand the sentiment. After all, if his first small-talk with the de-aged boy had indicated anything, it was that his mind had receded along with his body, leaving him without any memories of the Order or anyone in it—apparently, his clothes followed suit…what a strange ability that AKUMA had. He'd handed the boy his jacket to cover him up a bit, and he'd accepted it without any fuss. In fact…for some reason, despite not remembering him, he was really eager to stay close to him.

He looked from the stair step he'd been staring at for the past few minutes to glance over to his left. Allen sat there, small body sinking into Lavi's jacket, seeming content with himself as he twisted his foot a little to watch the golden bangle around his ankle shine in the light. He looked…well, quite frankly, he was adorable. He did wonder why he was dressed the way he was, though.

"Hey, Allen…"

The boy jolted a little, snapped out of whatever little thought he'd traveled into. He blinked his big eyes up to him for a second before he diverted his gaze somewhere down by his knee, "Yes'ir?"

That was another thing. He didn't quite look him in the eyes all the time. He also called him 'sir', which he kind of wanted him to stop. It felt weird.

"Ah…ahaha, hey, uh, you don't have to call me that."

"Hmm?" he still didn't look him in the eyes.

"…You can look at me, you know."

It took Allen a second but his gaze finally left his knees. Lavi could almost sigh in relief once his silvery-blue eyes met his own green ones.

"As I was saying, you don't have to call me 'sir'. I'm not that old, y'know!"

Allen's eyes narrowed for a second, but they didn't stay like that for long, "…Okay. What d'ya wan' me t'call you?"

"Just Lavi is good."

"Lavi…" suddenly, he blinked, frowning, "Lavi?"

This really got him interested, "Yeah?"

"I…uhm…" he frowned even more, "I…I think…I know th' name from somewhere…"

The redhead felt himself get a little hopeful, "That so? Where do you remember it from?"

'He's lost his memories…but not completely. He might have to remember it himself,' Lavi thought, nodding a little outwardly to agree with himself.

Allen blinked up at him, "I…dunno. I jus' know that name…'ey, y'know, y'look a lot like m' Master."

Lavi felt half-complimented, half-offended. Cross Marian was a looker, he'd admit, but just the thought of being related to the man kind of made him want to vomit in his mouth a little. It wasn't that Cross was a horrible person—though he could be…he could be if you gave him the chance—he was…a man of a select personality that he admitted he couldn't quite agree with. Part of it honestly came from the man calling him filthy flat out, and the other came from witnessing the man's treatment of the boy in the Ark, even if it was just for a short time.

"No, sorry shorty, I don't think I look much like Cross," he cringed a little.

The boy frowned at him, "Cross? No, I said m' Master."

Lavi paused for a moment, choosing his next words carefully, "Allen, what's your master's name?"

He looked down at his lap for a second, trying to think of the name, balling his fists up in his lap as he rolled the question around in his mind.

Suddenly, Allen got this absolutely horrified look on his face. It actually shocked a Finder that was close by into pausing what he was doing.

"Oh…oh no…I'm not supposed'ta be outside…" he staggered to his feet, "I-I've gotta…whe're we? I gotta get back to—"

"Oi, hey, hey, don't worry, Allen! You're fine!" Lavi replied hurriedly, standing up to steady the boy.

"No! 't's not okay! I gotta get back now!" he whispered hurriedly, sweat beginning to roll down the side of his face, his breath coming faster, "M' not supposed'ta be out here!"

"Calm down, calm down!" the redhead called to him, holding his shoulders as he moved closer, "Hey, it'll be okay…just breath with me for a second, okay? You want to try that?"

It took some more coaxing, but eventually Allen started to listen to him, his breath beginning to even out as he stared forward at Lavi's chest. His small hands reached up and held onto Lavi's sleeves, clenching down on them until he began to calm down more. The sudden changed in his behavior really shocked Lavi, and his eyes narrowed, wondering exactly what Cross had done to cause him to panic like so.

'Shit…that bastard…'

"Hey…it's okay…just breathe…" Lavi whispered calmly, noting how Allen had calmed back down, though he still seemed nervous. He didn't say a word.

"You don't have to tell me about him, it's fine…just calm down."

"…No…no I…" Allen shuddered for a moment before he seemed to settle back into his own skin, "I mad'a mistake…I was thinkin' 'bout the wrong master."

Lavi frowned, "The…wrong master?"

The white-haired boy nodded, "The master ya look like…he's good'ta me. Master's really nice, so…no, I was thinkin' 'bout the wrong one. I…forgot…I don't…"

"Hey, hey, it's okay! You don't have to remember everything right now."

"But…but I wanna remember who Master is! He…he named me an' he…he…what else did'e…" Allen's expression grew more troubled.

'Wow…his memories are a wreck. I guess that's what happens if you break out of the Rewind,' Lavi thought, giving the younger boy a reassuring smile.

"Hey, it'll be fine. Don't worry about it so much, alright?"

The boy looked skeptical, but nodded anyway, glaring at the ground. After a moment, he looked back up to him.

"Hey, ya never said where we were."

"Oh, right. We're in Lincoln."

He tilted his head a little, "Lincoln?"

"Yeah…oh, geez, you've never been to Lincoln before," he laughed a little, "My bad, my bad. We're in England. Lincoln's a city here."

The boy hummed, and after a moment of mulling over the information, he seemed to relax greatly, his entire body drooping a little. He even smiled a little.

"You okay?"

"Oh? Yea, 'm good, Lavi…" his smile faded, "Who d'ya work with? Ya got this fancy jacket n'all." He held his arms up, showing that his hands barely passed the ends of the sleeves

Lavi relaxed in his siting position, leaning back on the stairs, "The Black Order. It's an organization made by the Vatican to get rid of AKUMA."

"AKUMA? What's that? That's what those monsters're called?" Allen blinked up at him.

"Yup! My hammer's specially made to kill those things, so I'm…volunteering there for now."

The boy's eyes were positively glowing, "So 't's like m'arm, right? Can ya see the stuff inside'em, too?"

He ruffled his hair, "Sorry kiddo, that's a skill only you have."

"Oh…why'd they look so weird inside? Or…do ya even know?"

"No, I know about that. It's because when the upgrade, the soul inside of it takes one hell of a beating...you know, I didn't know what they looked like until you showed me."

"Show'ja? When'd I do that?"

Lavi cringed, 'Right, memory loss. Still gotta get used to that.'

Allen held his hand up to his chin, contemplating, "Ey, y'know, if I can get rid of'em, too…" he turned to him, grinning, "I should join th' Order!"

"Hmm?"

"Yeah! I mean, I can kill'em jus' like you! So, if I join th' Order, they can use my powers! 'Sides…" he looked down, becoming a tad sad, "I…I wanna save'em, too."

'Save them? Oh…so he knows what the 'stuff' inside of them is.'

"Mr. Lavi?"

The two exorcists looked over to the Finder who walked up, occasionally glancing at Allen. Said boy shifted closer to Lavi, watching the hooded man cautiously.

"Yeah?" Lavi replied, patting Allen's shoulder for reassurance. He moved closer, so he considered it sort of successful.

"We still have some work to do here, but you and…Mr. Walker are able to return to the Order. We have a carriage ready to take you back," he gave a small bow, "Thank you for all of the hard work."

The redhead stood, Allen following suit silently, "Thanks for your work, too."

The hooded man nodded, watching as the carriage approached the Cathedral, "We will be sending the two of you back with the Innocence. There will be some extra Finders going with you because of our…" he glanced down at Allen, "situation." Allen noticed the look though, and frowned at it, moving behind Lavi a bit.

"Ah…ahaha, yeah."

* * *

The same two Finders that had escorted them there were in the carriage, two others riding outside of it. To say that the mood was completely different from before was an understatement.

They were all sitting in the same places as before, the Finders trying their best to not stare at the now younger form of the already young boy. Allen didn't look at them either, preferring to swing his legs lightly with the rocking of the carriage as he looked out the window, curiously watching as buildings and people passed by. The taller of the two looked over at Lavi, a question on the tip of his tongue. In return, he shook his head and waved his hand lightly, a silent request to hold the question off until later.

"Umm…Mr. Walker?"

Allen frowned, "I don' get why'ya call me that. M'jus' Allen."

"Pardon?"

The boy glanced his way, "'M just some kid, y'know. Ya don' hafta be so polite," he looked back out the window, "Not like I've done anythin' 'mportant."

The shorter finder gazed at him for a moment before he turned it to Lavi. The redhead pointed at his head.

"Memory loss," he whispered.

They nodded in reply, sort of understanding.

"…Mr—…Allen, do you know what I'm holding?" the taller asked.

Allen looked over to him, staring at the Innocence for a moment, "…Nah. I dunno what that is, but Lavi was protectin' it an'the monsters…AKUMA wanted t'destory it, so I figured t'was importan'…" he gazed down at his still-covered hand with an unreadable expression, "It seems like tha thing in m'hand, though."

"Yes, that's a good observation. This is called an Innocence. It comes in many different forms, like this cocoon, like Lavi's hammer, and like your arm."

"Hmmm…" he turned his body away from the window, interested, "So then, why's mine so different from 'is?"

"Your Innocence is parasitic. It's a part of your body rather than a tool."

"Pa…para…wha?"

"Parasitic…uh, to explain it, basically your Innocence lives off of your body."

Allen's face scrunched up in a way they'd never seen before, "That sounds gross. Sounds creepy 'n gross 'n I don' like it."

The shorter of the two Finders found himself trying to hold back a laugh. Lavi did as well, but he did a better job of hiding it, turning away and covering his mouth.

"Is it the reason I get hungry a lot? Ya said it lives offa me."

The Finder paused, "Well…yes. When you eat, you're feeding both yourself and the Innocence."

Allen stared at him for a moment, processing what he said. Then he frowned, "Oh."

Lavi wondered about his reaction, but decided to push it aside for the moment, "Hey, speaking of which, are you hungry?"

"Mmmh…no."

A low rumble ran through the carriage. One Finder twisted his mouth in a way to not laugh. Lavi gave Allen a knowing smirk, the boy flushing just a bit.

"…Maybe a lil?"

"Haha, yeah, don't worry about it. You'll be able to eat once we're back to the Order." He nodded in reply, looking down at his lap.

* * *

Nothing else really happened until they reached the same checkpoint as before, where there were still crowds of people protesting for entrance into their city.

The time it'd taken for them to clear the city of all the AKUMA did nothing to temper their moods. Rather, Lavi could easily tell that they were rowdier than before. The uproar rose even further once their carriage was in sight of the group. Despite the efforts of the police and Finders mixed in with them, they couldn't get them to quiet down or stop pushing against them.

The noise did wonders to Allen's demeanor.

The young boy had slipped down to the ground in the carriage, holding himself close as he stared at the door. He didn't make a single noise as they approached. Even though he hadn't necessarily been the bubbliest person before, he wasn't the silent child he'd turned in to.

As they got closer to the crowd, Lavi gave the Finders a bit of an apologetic look before he slipped down onto the floor with him. It was a tight fit, and the others had to shift their feet around, but Lavi figured he could deal with it for his friend.

"Hey, kiddo," he grunted a little as he finally settled beside him.

Allen didn't move his eyes from the door.

"You know, that door's pretty steady. You don't have to worry about anything trying to break in."

He glanced up at Lavi, but then it went right back to the door as someone yelled something particularly loud.

"Besides," Lavi smiled, "We have these guys here. They'll protect you, you know?"

"…What's theirs?"

"Hmm?"

Allen's steely eyes gazed up to him, "What's their Innocence? Iz'it a hammer like yours?"

The redhead blinked at the question, but understood after a moment, "No, Allen, they don't have Innocence."

"Then…then how do they get rid'uv all those people? How'd they keep them away if they…"

"Hey, hey," Lavi scooted closer, "they don't have to have it to fight humans. They're strong on their own, you know?"

He didn't look completely convinced, but he seemed to calm a little.

"Right, think of it this way…have you ever been to a circus?" he asked, knowing the answer.

"Uhm…ummm…a really long time ago."

"Yeah. You remember those big buff guys who'd pick up all that weight?"

"…A bit."

"Well," he grinned up at the Finders, "these guys are like those big, buff men. They don't look it, but they're really strong." He grinned a little wider when he noticed them start blushing.

The white-haired boy looked up at them for a moment before he seemed to relax more, looking down to his knees as he nodded.

Something splattered against the window of the carriage, and he stiffened up against instantly.

The yelling outside got louder as people kept being pushed and shuffled around to try and get closer to the carriage. Something else hit the carriage, and while they couldn't see what it was, they could see the juice from the tomato that had been thrown at it spray over the window a bit. Allen tucked his head in the gap between his knees and chest.

Lavi clicked his tongue irritatedly before he pulled Allen close, "Hey, it'll be okay, we're here."

The Finders placed their hands on the talisman shields they had with them, their faces blank as they waited for someone to even try ripping the door open. They were sure they'd be fine, since there were two Finders on the outside as well, but they did it anyway. If nothing, maybe they'd reassure the scared boy near their feet.

While the vegetables did stop being thrown, the police and hidden Finders getting them further away from the carriage so it could move faster, that just rose their voice levels. Allen shuddered at one particularly loud man, but instead of curling further into himself, he turned to Lavi and almost seemed to try to meld into his side. Lavi's arm tightened around him as he glared over to the door.

He'd never really seen Allen cower and hide from the things he was afraid of. Sure, he'd been shocked when he was attacked by an AKUMA when his eye wasn't working. Sure, he'd been nervous about meeting Krory when they thought he was a vampire. Sure, he'd been horrified when fighting against Tyki. Even so, he never curled up and hid. He knew that Allen was just a kid, and his fear didn't frustrate him in the least.

He just wondered why a boy who grew to be so strong hid away from something like loud voices...

'…Hadn't he just faced off against a Level 3 AKUMA?' Lavi wondered, glancing down at the boy, 'He seems more scared now than before…'

He patted the boy's side as another particularly piercing voice shook him.

"It's okay, Allen. It'll be fine. If nothing else, I'm right here."


	6. Mesto Moderato

**Yoooo, so here's another one!**

 **Updates might get a tad slower for the rest of this week and the next since I'm trying to update _MOTN_ for this month. I'm only 4000+ words, and I haven't covered everything I want to for that chapter. I'm trying to get the ball started ASAP so I can move forward, but I don't want to rush it, y'know?**

 **Anyway, thanks for the favs, follows, and reviews—especially the reviews, y'all are so sweet! I'm glad you're enjoying everything so far!**

 **Stay shiny! *jazz hands***

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: Fun fact, the line breaks I use in my Word docs are streams of screaming. Literally.**

* * *

Sometimes, Komui really tried his hardest to ignore his work. He knew it was disorganized and lying all over the place—and he was sure that if he actually had it organized, he'd see how much work he truly needed to get to, and he'd positively die. He had a sister to take care of, so he couldn't do that! In actuality, he was probably doing the entire world a favor by not being completely aware of all the things he needed to do.

Of course, he knew that certain things held a level of immediacy, so he made sure to bring that issue up front, first and foremost! Just like right then, at that moment, where he was writing a report on the mission he'd sent Lavi and Allen on. The Great Generals were very strict with the poor boy, nearly not letting him out of the building without Link by his side, but they still considered it important that he be able to take some missions close by. He was glad he was able to get the Great Generals and Lvellie to at least agree with that.

Of course, they deemed the idea that his mission process be kept easy…well, too easy. No, they had to go off and make him fill out form after form, then have the Finders occasionally report to him about Allen's whereabouts and condition so he could document that as well. They were practically just short of not letting him breath without someone being notified…at least it would be, but the immediate-contact golem broke down before they got back. It'd degraded down to a bunch of garbled mumbling and baby cries before it shorted out completely. He wasn't sure what that was about, but he figured the exorcists would be able to explain it soon.

'It's only been a day so far,' he thought, holding back a yawn from his short nap an hour before, 'The last short report I received said they were done, so they should be back today.'

He felt himself grin, 'Perhaps I could get Allen to fill the rest of this out. He's not the type of boy to lie about what happened on a mission…'

"Hey, Chief, I don't know what you're thinking about, but stop it right now!" Reever called from his pile of papers, looking rough as he gathered some together to give to the man for signing.

"I'm not planning anything!"

"I didn't say you were, you were the one to point it out just now! Just stop planning schemes and do your work!"

Just before Komui could give his reply, the front door opened slowly, Lavi peeking his head in.

"Yo…bad time?"

Komui's face practically lit up. "Lavi! Just the young man I wanted to see," he greeted, standing from his seat. He nearly moved from behind his desk, but the glare that Reever threw him kept him in place.

"Awww, really?" Lavi cooed, smiling a tad nervously, which caught the scientists' attention, some of them pausing to look at him.

"Well, partially. Honestly, I need both you and Allen to report. Has he already headed back to his room?"

"Oh…uh…what do you need him for?"

Komui frowned, "I needed to ask him a few questions about the mission that the two of you took."

Lavi actually looked a bit relieved, "Oh, okay, yeah. That's simple enough. He should be able to do that."

Reever began to walk over to Komui's desk, though he glared at Lavi, "Oi, what are you hiding?"

"Nothing particularly big…"

"Yeah, yeah, fat chance."

"Lavi, you need to either give your report or find Allen for him to give his," Komui sighed.

Lavi looked back through his side of the door for a moment before he turned to them again, smiling lightly as sweat rolled down the side of his face, "Uh, yeah, I'll give my part now."

Komui nodded, "Good, good. Come in, then."

"Okay…you don't mind if Allen's a part of my report do you?" he asked, opening the door a bit more as he entered.

"No, I don't. What are you on abo—…"

Komui felt his glasses slip a little on his face. He was pretty sure he heard Reever drop all of the papers he was holding. A scientist somewhere further behind him probably knocked into a desk or something from the loud thump that came with it.

As Lavi entered, he revealed he was holding a small child's hand, the child's other hand rubbing sleepily at his eyes before they opened wide at the room full of books and papers. They wore Lavi's jacket, which covered them all the way to a bit lower than their waist, the child's red silk clothing fluttering lightly as they stumbled slowly after the redhead. The jacket's sleeves covered their wrists and drooped off of them. Any other day, Komui would've thought that Lavi had brought an Accommodator back to test their Innocence.

He would've thought it, too, had the child not had white hair and a scar going down the left side of their face.

"…Allen?" Komui called over.

He directed his silvery-blue eyes from the top of one of the bookshelves straight over to him, "Ye'sir?"

"Oh, fuck all kinds of duck…" Reever whispered.

Komui stared forward at the now shrunken exorcist. As a man who knew that more important priorities came first…it looked like that mission paper would have to wait.

* * *

It took Komui a moment to snap himself and the other scientists there out of their daze at seeing the small boy, but they got back to work eventually in a relative sense. It was just…too bizarre.

He had the two exorcists sitting on the couch as usual, but it was worlds away from how they had been just a day ago. Lavi looked less confused than the rest of them, but there was some confusion in him for sure. Allen didn't seem to know what was even going on…nor did he seem to remember them. Other than the "Ye'sir" from before, he hadn't made any sort of attempt to communicate with them, simply keeping quiet and by Lavi's side.

"Is he…okay?" Komui asked, sitting in a chair in front of the desk, courtesy of Reever.

"He seems to be. His Innocence works and everything," the redhead replied, though his face said otherwise.

Komui nodded to him lightly, understanding that it wouldn't be best to talk about it in front of the boy whose situation was…unnatural at best. He looked over to the small boy, who made no effort to meet his gaze.

"Allen?"

Said boy glanced over to Lavi for a moment before he looked down at his knees, "M'okay."

"Are you sure? You're not hurt anywhere?"

"Mmmh…justa bit hungry iz'all, but I c'n wait."

"Hey, short stuff, you know you can look at him, right?" Lavi asked, concern laced in his voice.

For a moment, he looked a little skeptical, but seemed to remember that Lavi hadn't steered him wrong so far. His eyes rose from his knees to look at him. When nothing happened, the older man watched as the boy's shoulders relaxed.

"Good, good. It's alright to look at me, Allen," Komui smiled.

"Okay…how'd'ya know my name, too?"

"You...don't remember. I see," he replied sadly.

"Remember what? And…uhm…what's ye name?" he shifted in his seat.

Komui brightened just a bit, "I'm Komui Lee, the Black Order's European Branch Chief."

"…Ko…mui?"

The boy backed away from him in his seat a bit, clutching his left hand nervously.

'So that's the first thing that comes to mind with him…' everyone thought, sighing. It was understandable, though. Having an Innocence repaired was traumatic enough to transcend memory loss.

"Are you okay?" he asked brightly, trying to not feel down about his reaction to his name.

"Ah…uhm…for some reason, my hand got'll twitchy…"

"If that's all that happened, that's fine."

"Oh, okay…uhm…mister..."

Komui blinked, "Yes?"

Allen glanced over to Lavi for a moment, but nervously looked back at him, "Ehh…if it's okay, I wanna…be an exorcist, too. I've got an Innocence n'all," he rose his hand, "I—I c'n use it, too!"

It was pretty endearing to see him asking to be an exorcist, but all the while saddening that he felt he had to ask to be something he technically already was.

Komui took it all in stride though, nodding happily, "That's good! How about we have you tested, then?"

'Oi…this won't be a repeat of the first time, will it?' Reever thought, scowling at his papers.

"Tested? Fer what? M' not sick or anythin'," he replied plainly, "He always make'sure…tha's'not what ya mean, iz'it?"

The Chinese man frowned, "I'm not sure what you mean, but you're not being tested for any sicknesses…who is 'he'?"

Allen looked embarrassed, "Mmh…sorry, I thought y'meant…"

"No, we're just going to check how connected you are with your Innocence."

"How'yuh do that?"

Komui smiled, standing to his feet, "I'll tell you on the way, alright?"

The boy nodded, sliding off of the couch. He looked over to Lavi, expecting him to stand, too. Lavi smiled at him, waving his hand a tad absently.

"I've got to finish a report. You can go with him."

"Eh? Uhmm…" he looked nervous, "…okay."

Lavi sighed lightly, shifting over and patting Allen's head, "It'll be fine. You can keep the jacket on you for now, okay?"

He nodded, hands clutching onto the fabric over his chest. The redhead looked up to Komui's face, noticing his concerned expression. When the man looked him in the eye, he mouthed to him that he'd explain as much as he could later. The chief nodded in reply before Allen turned to him, the boy fiddling with the jacket.

Komui smiled reassuringly at him, holding out a hand for him to take, "Alright, let's go meet Hevlaska."

Allen didn't ask any more questions, quietly taking his hand before the chief led them away.

Once they were far enough away, several of the scientists rushed over to Lavi's side, the exorcist holding his hands up as sweat began rolling down the side of his face.

"What the heck happened to him?!" Johnny asked, obviously putting himself into a panic.

"I couldn't see all of what he was wearing, but what's up with that getup?"

"Why is he so small?!"

"Good gosh, can the two of you not get into trouble?!"

"Oi, oi, one at a time please," Lavi said, trying to appease them.

"Hey, you heard him, back away," Reever said, walking over to the group.

The group slowly backed away, making way for their division officer. Lavi almost breathed a sigh in relief, Reever standing right in front of him. The way his shadow cast on him though…

Suddenly, Reever's hands closed on the collar of his shirt, the rest of his face calm, but his eyes panicked.

"Please explain everything from the beginning."

"Okay, okay," he replied a little breathlessly, "Just hold up a second…"

* * *

The scientists lower in the lab worked tirelessly most of the day and sometimes all through the night. They've worked experiments, tested methods, confirmed and denied hypotheses…quite frankly, they might not be on the battlefield, but they've seen some shit. So initially, when the Chief came in, leading a small child to the elevator so they could go down and meet Hevlaska, they didn't think much of it.

But one looked over and saw a shock of white hair and couldn't stop staring. A few others joined in, but were barked at to get back to work. Though something nagged at the corners of their mind that they knew the child, they decided to push the thought away for a later time.

Komui smiled down to his charge, "So, do you know Hevlaska?"

It took Allen a moment to respond, "No…I've ne'er been 'ere, so…but th'name sounds familiar."

"I figured so. She's an exorcist here who will be able to see how well you and your Innocence communicate. It might be a bit scary, but you won't be hurt!"

"Eh? Scary?"

"Well, she can be a bit frightening to some people. She means no harm, though, and won't hurt you," he smiled, "I promise that."

'You couldn't tell every exorcist this?' some of the scientists who heard him thought, sighing as they continued their work, 'Must be a pretty special kid.'

"Mmh…okay," Allen mumbled, the two stepping onto the elevator.

"Going down!" Komui cheered lightly, pushing a lever.

The elevator began humming, and without any complaint, began floating down to Hevlaska's room. Allen watched with wide eyes as they passed by several rooms, loads of scientists experimenting and testing things.

"Th's place is pretty big, sir…how'd'ya pay everyone?"

"Hm? Pay?"

Allen looked back at him with a surprisingly sharp look, "Oh."

"…Is something wrong?"

Allen seemed to mull over something for a moment, but then he shrugged, significantly less interested, "No'sir.

'Why d'these idiots stay 'round if they ain't gettin' paid? They'r'all nuts…but it's probably bett'r than…'

The two didn't say anything else to each other for the rest of the way down, though Allen could feel Komui looking at his back with some sort of look.

'If he's got somethin' t'say, he'll say it. I'm not botherin' wit'him.'

Suddenly, the elevator stopped moving, and Allen blinked at the darkness before he turned around to face Komui. The man smiled at him lightly.

"Here we are. This is Hevlaska's room."

Allen tilted his head lightly, frowning, "…sir? This…ain't a room…iz'it?"

He nodded, "It is."

Then, Allen's eyes left his, noticing something glowing over the edge of the elevator closer to Komui's side. The glow became brighter and brighter as a figure began to rise up to look over at them.

Komui watched as Allen's eyes widened, his mouth dropping open as he stayed cemented to his spot.

Hevlaska rose her lead, her mighty body glowing with the power of the Cube within her. She looked down at the elevator with interest, noticing that she felt a familiar Innocence, though it was…different. Something about it had changed, but she wasn't yet sure what it was. Its voice seemed…quieter, more muted than it should be for an Innocence that has reached the Critical stage.

" _I…nnocence…"_

Komui smiled up to her, "Hevlaska, I need you to check Allen over, see if everything's okay between him and the Innocence."

"… _Allen…Walker…Even from here…his Innocence sounds…muted…"_

Komui frowned, 'Muted?'

"H—hold up a bloody second!"

He snapped out of his thoughts, surprised by the language used. When he looked over to Allen, he realized the boy was about ready to piss himself. He had backed himself against the furthest railing on the elevator, his arm sparking with energy, though it didn't activate yet, his body nearly curling in on itself as he stared up at Hevlaska with frightened eyes.

Komui sighed. He'd tried to actually prepare Allen for meeting Hevlaska this time, but in truth, there wasn't really a good way to do it, so he never really bothered with preparing a new exorcist for meeting her. Oh well, he'd tried.

"Allen, don't worry! Remember, I said she means no harm."

"I don' fuckin' care!" the boy screeched, glaring harder than Komui had ever seen, "Wha'z goin' on?! Tha—she's Hevlaska?!"

He blinked with surprise again, "Y…yes. She is. She'll inspec—"

"She will, my arse!" he spat, clinging to the railing, "I thought y'were explainin' shit t'me earlier, but y'ain't explained a damn thing!"

"… _It will be…okay, Allen,"_ she said airily, reaching her many hands out to him, _"I will not hurt you…"_

All of Allen's anger flushed right out of him once he saw her hands heading toward him, "N-no! Don' reach f'r me! 'M sorry!"

Hevlaska didn't falter though, one particular hand reaching for his arm. Before she did, said arm activated suddenly, wrapping around him in an attempt to conceal him from sight. That didn't stop her, though, her hand touching his, making his veins bulge as she searched his body.

Allen felt as though something had slithered under his skin, like it was running through his blood. It felt disgusting, terrible…

"Nooo! 'M s'rry, s'rry!" he screamed, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks.

Rather than continue and pick the boy up, Hevlaska stilled, though she didn't recede either. Both she and Komui waited while he cried, sitting in his place as his whole body trembled. Eventually, he seemed to notice that nothing was happening, that he wasn't being hurt like he'd feared he would. His panic receded a bit as he opened his eyes, tears still running down his cheeks as he choked on his own sobbing.

Hevlaska made no sudden movements, **"** _Allen…I promise…I will not hurt you…do I hurt you right now?"_

The boy didn't stop sobbing, but he shook his head.

" _Alright…"_

She then started moving another hand, making him stiffen as his sobbing got harder. He closed his eyes and flinched as her fingertips ran over his cheeks, but he opened them when he noticed he wasn't in pain.

" _Am I hurting you…with this hand?"_

"…N—" he choked on his breath for a second, "…no…"

"… _Do you understand? I will not hurt you…"_

It took him a moment to respond, the hand caressing his face, but he eventually nodded.

"… _For me to check you…I need you to come closer…do you trust me?"_

His chest was still heaving, but less so. He thought over what had happened so far, and once he finally agreed, he nodded his head.

" _Then…please come forth, child…"_

Allen slowly leaned forward from where he sat, still sniffling as he tried to stand up. Though he was still shaky on his legs, he eventually stood up, though he was still sort of hunched on himself. He refused to look at either Hevlaska or Komui as he began to walk forward stiltedly. Komui didn't move as Allen passed, the boy clenching his eyes shut as he passed him. The boy didn't open his eyes again until he felt the rail touch the front of his body.

"… _You need not feel shame, Allen…many have been afraid of me…you are not the first, nor are you the last…"_

Allen didn't reply, still looking at his feet. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Hevlaska's body shifted, and gasped a little once her forehead touched his. Suddenly, he felt a warmth rush through him, and the feeling that had previously been disgusting and invading felt…calming, reassuring. It had started to feel that way before, once he finally realized he wasn't being hurt, but it was like the feeling had multiplied. He started crying a little more just because of it.

" _3%...8…15…23…39…45…56…64%!"_

Komui's eyes widened, '64? His synchronization rate dropped significantly!'

Hevlaska backed away from Allen, moving her hands away from him slower, _"Yes…it seems that his synchronization rate has dropped with his age…"_

"How old is he?" Komui asked.

" _His body, as it is…is 12 years old…He would have another few months before turning 13."_

'12?! I thought he was younger! He's smaller than I expected for that age…'

The last of her hands began to pull away from Allen, the boy standing still as he clutched at his clothes, his body still heaving.

"Mm…m' sorry…" he whispered to her, her last hand pulling away.

The hand paused before it touched his face once more, _"It is alright…do not worry yourself over this…"_

Allen nodded solemnly as the hand pulled away fully, Hevlaska backing away from the elevator. Komui wasn't sure what to say, watching as the boy finally moved back toward him, though he didn't stand as closely as before. Komui sighed, looking back over to the large exorcist.

"We'll see you another time, Hevlaska."

She nodded silently as the elevator began to ascend.

* * *

They were about halfway up to their stopping point when Allen finally spoke.

"'M sorry…"

"Hmm?"

Allen stayed looking at his feet, his hands clutching at his clothes, "I…uhm…I should'a trusted you…when y'said…"

His body twitched when Komui placed a hand on his shoulder, pulling his bottom lip into his mouth when he noticed the older man kneel down beside him.

"It's alright, Allen. To be honest, I was at fault."

The genuine surprise on the boy's face made him a tad sad for some reason.

"I expected you to trust me so intricately even though we…just became…we were just acquainted. I should've described the procedure to you more, if that would've helped. I cannot blame you for having the reaction that you did at all."

"B-but I…I swore at'ya and I…"

Komui laughed a little, "We all have knee-jerk reactions to things. I'll admit, I was surprised you knew those words, but I should've expected something at least. I'm just so used to…" he shook his head a little before his face grew more firm, looking straight into silver-blue eyes, "In truth, I betrayed your trust, and I apologize for that."

Allen stared at him, his mouth very slightly open.

"Allen?"

The boy snapped his mouth shut, nodding his head, "Mmhmm, it's okay. I'll be fine. 'M sorry."

Komui sighed a little, realizing his apology didn't quite go as expected, "Well, we'll be able to work this out, I believe. Allen, do you still want to be an exorcist?"

"Y-yeah! Absolutely, sir!"

His smile became a little sad, 'Good…I probably would've been forced to take a different method with you if you didn't still want this…' He covered his thoughts quickly with a grin.

"Alright then! You're officially an exorcist for the Black Order, Allen."

Seeing the boy's eyes glow sent a chill through his heart, like he was betraying the child all over again.


	7. Triste

**Eh, no Friday update, got too busy. I was going to update Saturday, but then I got an arm cramp and decided to watch anime for a while, haha.**

 **Anyway, here it is! It's a lot longer than I usually intend for these story chapters to be, so, sorry to say, but don't get used to chapters being this long.**

 **As I said, I probably won't be able to update this one so much as I work more on _MOTN_ , but I'll be back most likely by later this week.**

 **Thanks for all of the favs, follows and reviews! Speaking of which, TimelessTears, I'd found that spelling of "Jeryy" on the DGM wiki, so I thought that was the true spelling for a while. I still use it now because I think it looks cool, haha. Thanks for pointing it out, though!**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the story so far!**

 **Stay shiny! *jazz hands***

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: I've been making SU fan-gems. My sketch book's full of 'em. Also, you might hate me a little by the end of this chapter.**

* * *

"Whe'er we goin' now?" Allen asked, looking up at Komui as he walked them through the science sector, pointedly ignoring the looks he could see out of the corner of his eye.

"Well, now we're going to the medical ward for a health check-up," he replied with a smile.

"Wait…I thought'ya said we weren' doin' that."

"No, I said we were visiting Hevlaska for the Innocence. Now, we're checking your health!"

Allen frowned before looking away, "Mm'fine."

"Allen, you have to understand, being an exorcist is a very physical activity," Komui began, giving the boy a slight lecture.

The boy seemed to think about it for a moment before he nodded, "Yeah…Lavi had'ta do all these twists and dodgin' 'n stuff…"

The chief nodded, "Yes! Since your Innocence is in your arm, you would have to do a lot of physical activity. We just want to be sure you're healthy enough to do it."

"…Bu'cha said I was already a' exorcist."

"You are. We just want you to be well when you go out and fight," Komui smiled, "We do care about your well-being, after all."

Allen stared up at him for a moment before he nodded, looking forward as they approached the medical ward. Komui pushed the door open for both of them, keeping quiet for the Finders resting in the room, the doctors and nurses checking on them. Allen noticed them as well, and though he couldn't see their injuries, he was sure that they probably came from the AKUMA. He glanced up at the chief.

"Are they gonna be okay?" he whispered.

Komui smiled down at him, "After some time, I believe they will. We have very hard-working men and women who tend to them."

The boy nodded, seemingly sated by the answer. The two walked further back in the ward to a private room. Komui opened the door and turned the light on, revealing a nicely organized medical room. It was very pristine, and the only real comfort in the room was the check-up bed, which was covered with a slightly transparent strip of paper. Allen swallowed nervously.

"If you'll wait here for a moment, I'll get the nurse to come and give you a check-up, alright? She'll give you instructions once we come back."

He turned to Komui, nodding lightly before he moved further into the room. For some reason, he seemed to relax a little at something he said, adding to the mystery surrounding the boy.

Komui left the door open as he made his way to the nurse's bay. Considering the circumstances, he hoped dearly that Head Nurse was available.

And for once, he was lucky, the Head Nurse giving orders to a group of young nurses about a few patients. One of the nurses receiving the lecture glanced over the woman's shoulder, noticing him approach.

"Oh, good day, Chief Komui," she replied, giving a light bow.

The other nurses noticed him and bowed as well, the Head Nurse turning around, her sharp eyes catching his. He shuddered for just a moment, but returned the sentiment to the ladies.

"Same to you all," he turned his attention to Head Nurse, who gave him a nod in greeting, "Head Nurse."

"Chief Komui. I do hope you're feeling well? Otherwise, Lenalee hasn't been here today."

He sighed, understanding, "No. And while I do appreciate you letting me know that Lenalee hasn't been here, I'm here for a more…" he glanced at the nurses, "confidential reason."

The Head Nurse took notice of the look, turning around and dismissing the nurses with a last order or two.

"What will you be needing, Chief?"

"I've brought Allen in for a check-up, just to see how he's doing."

"…I see. He was in the ward a few days ago, so forgive me if I don't understand the reasoning. Was he injured?"

"No…but there's been a mishap with the mission…I haven't received all of the details yet, but according to Hevlaska, Allen is now 12 years old."

The Head Nurse stared at him with sharp eyes for a moment, but it didn't take her long to realize he wasn't pulling her leg. He knew better than to do that anyway. Part of her felt that she should've been shocked, but…well, she'd gotten used to many things over time. This was a new situation, but not one she couldn't handle. She sighed.

"If you'll wait here, sir, I'll bring a child's set of a hospital gown and clothes."

Komui smiled lightly, "Thank you for understanding."

She turned away from him to get the clothes, huffing, "It's the least I can do."

* * *

Well, color the Nurse shocked. Hearing that the 15 year old exorcist was now 12 was one thing. Seeing it was a whole different world of weird. Of course, she was careful not to show it on her face.

Both were pleased to find that Allen had obeyed Komui, not leaving the room. It also seemed that he hadn't felt the inclination to touch anything, if the maintained neatness of the room was anything to go by. The boy was standing beside the check-up cot, fiddling around with the coat buttons before he noticed them enter. He looked up to the woman, a sheen of cautiousness in his gaze. She gave him a kind smile in return.

"Hello, Allen. I'm the head nurse here. You can just call me the Nurse," she said, placing his clothes on the counter nearby as she grabbed some equipment to give him a check-up.

"Yes'm…" he mumbled, shifting on his feet where he stood.

"Have you had a check-up before, Allen?" Komui asked, entering the door and closing it.

Being in the enclosed space seemed to make him more nervous, but he responded, "Uhm…yeah. A few times before, I think."

"Alright, so then this should go pretty smoothly."

"Mmhmm…" Allen hummed.

He actually looked sad, staring at the floor, something that threw Komui off.

"Alright, dear. I need you to take off the jacket for me. We'll get your height and weight really quickly," the Nurse said, holding a clipboard as she walked over to the scale.

Allen seemed a little surprised at the notion, "Oh…uh…okay."

The boy looked down at his chest, starting with the top button as he went down. He fumbled with it for a moment before he finally got to the last button, slipping the jacket sleeves off of his arms, shivering as they slid off. Komui had to school his expression silently when he noticed what he was wearing. The Nurse did as well, though that might just be because her face was always sharp just on default. Allen didn't seem to mind it at all though, placing the jacket on the cot.

"I'll need you to take off the bracelets as well, just in case they through your weight measurement off. Your shoes, too, for your height."

"Hmm? Oh, yes'm," he replied, rubbing his hand over the long clasp on his right land until he found the part where it opened up.

He did the same for his other arm before he moved to do the same for his legs. Undoing the left anklet and removing the shoe wasn't so bad, the boy lightly shivering as his foot touched the floor, but the two adults became aware of the high slit in his clothes when he moved to do the right side. Komui couldn't help but frown at that, noting he could see just a sliver of what he suspected was his underwear just below the V-shaped bangle design on his clothes. The Nurse's gaze became sharper for a moment, but she made sure he wouldn't see it if he turned to her. Allen placed the anklets and forearm clasps on the cot along with the jacket before he looked down to where his shoes were.

"Uhm…where do I…"

"You can just leave it by the curtain in this corner, dear," she replied, pointing over to the hospital curtain to her left.

The boy complied immediately taking his shoes over and placing them down neatly in the corner. He turned to the Nurse for any further instructions.

"Come here and stand on the scale, dear...Chief, do you have something else you need to do?" Head Nurse asked, turning to Komui with a gleam in her eye, "I presume you need Lavi's report?"

Komui snapped out of his daze as he noticed what she said. He nodded, frowning.

'He should know something about this…more than we do anyway. And from the look on her face, we need to know right now.'

"Allen," he called over, the boy pausing as he stepped on the scale, "I'm going back to the office to finish some work. Head Nurse will bring you over once you're done, alright?"

The boy nodded in reply, stepping the rest of the way onto the scale, shivering a tad.

The Chief gave him a small smile before he opened the door, closing it behind him as he left.

The Nurse nodded lightly, satisfied, before she turned back to Allen. Used her hand to push him further forward onto it, the boy not flinching at her touch.

"Here you go. Just stand still for a moment," she said absently as she began moving the dials at the top of the medical scale.

Her expression twisted once she stopped the dials at his weight. The expression faded a little once she started speaking again, trying to keep her voice softer.

"Turn around for me, and put your back against the height rod."

Allen obeyed again without question, turning around before he leaned against the rod, shuddering lightly against the cold thing.

She chuckled a little pit, patting the top of his fluffy hair down, "You almost added an inch with this hair of yours."

The little giggle he let out warmed her heart…but she became even more upset once she noticed his height. Once again, she covered it as well as she could, writing his results onto the paper on the clipboard.

* * *

Komui sighed as he reentered the office, rubbing the space right between his eyes, "Lavi, I hope you're willing to explain a few things."

"I'll explain as much as I can, again," the redhead replied, looking back at him as he entered, Reever pointedly ignoring them.

Komui pulled his seat over, careful not to slump into it like he felt he wanted to. He'd dealt with heavier things before, he was certain, but something about what was going on made him feel a bit exhausted.

"Well," Lavi began, "the Level 3 we'd fought had some sort of time ability. One minute it'd be a few feet away, and the next it'd be right in front of your face."

"Right, the Finders said its Level 2 form did something similar, though not to that point."

"It could also do some ability it called 'rewinding'. It would freeze its victims and send them back through their lives before killing them. Once they died, he received their life energy. Allen'd gotten caught in it."

Komui hummed in reply, "But he broke through it before it could get too far. Sounds like him."

The redhead leaned forward in his seat, "So, the Allen we're dealing with right now is an Allen from years ago."

"Nearly three, to be exact," Komui replied, "Hevlaska confirmed that he's 12."

"12? Really?" he blinked, genuine shock on his face.

"I know, I'd thought he was younger as well."

"That's weird…it would mean he shot up another few inches before he got here…even at the 50th percentile, common kids only grow a few centimeters per year."

"True, but he is also an Accommodator, has been since birth. To an extent, I can understand that he'd grow suddenly…even so, he still seems small for his age."

"He was living with a traveling circus for a while…perhaps he wasn't eating so well."

Komui frowned, "While I agree with you, I doubt the circus would've had him wear what he is."

Lavi's face screwed up, "I was talking about the food. The clothes are a completely different subject."

* * *

Allen sat on the medical cot, staring at the strange device strapped around his upper arm, confused.

"This is a blood pressure cuff. It'll tighten on your arm for a while, but it'll release," Head Nurse said, writing a few things on her clip board before she began putting on the stethoscope parts.

"…W'at's that?"

"Blood pressure? It's the amount of force your blood puts on your arteries and veins. It can help determine how hard your heart is working for you."

"Oh…mmkay."

He sat as still as he could while she began the procedure, though his body would shudder every once in a while. Head Nurse frowned at that, but paid attention to the measure more.

'Hmm…it seems lower than it should…I don't think this is normal for a boy his age,' she thought, removing the stethoscope and his cuff before she wrote the measure down.

"Alright, dear, now we're going to do an eye test. You see the chart over there?" she pointed toward a big poster with a lot of letters on it, "First cover your left eye, then try reading the fifth line down."

"Yes'm," he covered his right eye, "…uhm…P, E, C, F, D."

"Alright, next line."

"…E, D, F, C, Z, P."

"Next."

"…F…L, E, O…P, C, D."

'20/5 vision…about the same as before so far…' she thought, looking back to the chart, "Try the next one."

"Erhm…C…V? E…R…D…K…R, maybe? I…dunno," he shivered lightly, shifting in his seat nervously.

"That's alright. You've already done very well," she smiled, flipping the framed poster over to reveal different letters, "Now try the other eye."

He did very well on that eye as well, reaching the 20/5 line until his eyesight got blurry. She wrote the results down, nodding in light approval.

"Uhm…ma'am?"

"Yes?" she turned to him, the boy still shifting in his seat.

"I…I c'n read in th'dark, too. C—can I show'ya that?"

She blinked at him for a moment before she smiled, moving back to the wall to pull out a night-vision eye test, "Of course, dear. I was just about to ask for that."

His eager smile graced the room nicely.

* * *

"They seem more Asian or African, that style," Lavi muttered, frowning.

"He never mentioned anything about being in either of those places," Komui replied.

"Well, except for when he was with Cross."

"Cross, huh…"

"…Do you think he'd have him dress like that?"

"My knee-jerk response is no…where in Asia or Africa?"

"Hmm…maybe Egypt? Or it's Middle Eastern. They use a lot of silk and gold, depending on what they're dressed for."

"I don't know of any missions that Cross took three years ago that went to Egypt, but…was he hanging around the Middle East?" Komui asked, turning back to Reever.

The man sighed, putting his work down, "I'll check the documents…if they're actually organized right now."

"Oh yes, yes, the ones from three years ago are all packed way!" Komui grinned.

"So no, they aren't," the Australian growled.

"Most of them are. That should be good enough."

"You blimey…" he trudged off to find the files.

"It'll be hard to tell, to be honest. We didn't know anything about Allen until he showed up to the Gatekeeper."

"Yeah…he kept his existence really private," Lavi's face scrunched up a bit.

"What are you thinking, Lavi?"

"…I'm not so sure, yet."

"Either way, I'm rather surprised. I didn't see this image of Allen when I checked Timcanpy's memory log."

"What?"

"Yes. The earliest I saw of Allen was some time in…" his eyes brightened with the memory, "It was in the Middle East! I don't remember which country, but it was somewhere there."

* * *

"How much sleep would you say you get at night, Allen?" Head Nurse asked as she picked up her stethoscope.

"Uhmm…I dunno…I kinda lose track 'ov time sometimes," he replied, standing behind the hospital curtain as he changed out of his clothes into the hospital gown.

"Why is that?"

"Mhh…sometimes, my room didn' hav'a window. I'd take naps'ometimes though, so I got some sleep."

"And how long were these naps?" she asked, frowning.

"I dunno. A few minutes maybe?" he replied, stepping from behind the curtain, shivering slightly.

'He does that quite a bit…the shivering…' she wondered, patting the cot, "Here, have a seat again."

He complied without question, using the stepping stool to get to his position. Head Nurse moved over to his side as she placed the clipboard down beside him, leaving the stethoscope around her neck as she took hold of his wrist.

"Just sit for a moment, I'll be checking your heart rate."

"Yes'm."

She placed her fingers lightly against a pulse point in his wrist before she looked down to her watched, counting thirty seconds. She tried not to show her surprise once she finished, doubling the results to get his beats-per-minute result and writing it down.

'It's fast…rather fast for him to just be sitting.'

"Are you nervous, dear?" she asked.

He seemed to think for a moment, "…maybe a lil', but notta lot." Considering how relaxed he seemed compared to earlier, she believed him.

'Low blood pressure, constant shivering, and a fast heartbeat…sounds a lot like…' she frowned lightly, but tried not to show it to him, "Alright, sit up straight. I'll check your lungs to make sure they're doing well."

He nodded, sitting up. She was about to put the stethoscope to his back when she noted something through the little sliver open in the back of the gown.

She could rather easily see the bones in his spine. His spine wasn't so horribly visible that she could see each bone, but it seemed to poke out from his back more than she'd expect. She pulled the back of the gown open just a bit more to check his back, noting that she could also see more of his shoulder blades and ribs than she'd want to. He wasn't horribly thin, but just being where he was at his age was enough. Almost as if to add insult to injury, he shivered again.

"…Ma'am?"

"It's nothing, dear. Just checking something," she replied, unable to stop her tone from dropping like it did.

Something on his lower back and closer to his hip caught her eye. She clenched her teeth, not absolutely sure what the thing was, but she made sure she'd remember it for future reference. Before she would forget about it—not that she thought she would—she turned to her clipboard and wrote a note for herself on a blank sheet of paper.

"Just breathe normally," she said, closing the gap more and placing the stethoscope head on the gown so it wouldn't directly touch his skin.

* * *

"Yeah, with what little information we have on Cross, he was somewhere in the Middle East," Reever replied as he returned, looking a tad haggard. He frowned once he noticed he was being ignored.

"He said something about a master. Apparently, he's had more than one," Lavi's empty gaze grew dark, still hunched over a bit.

"Another master? He's never said anything about that, nor did Timcanpy's memory log imply he had one."

"…Can Cross alter what Tim records?"

"Not that I know of…Timcanpy is Cross' creation, after all. There's nothing else like him."

"Of course, of course," he muttered sarcastically.

"Now, I understand your frustration, but what are you thinking, Lavi?" Komui frowned.

"I'm thinking Cross might've done something with or to Allen."

The room grew silent for a moment.

"Hold up, you didn't say anything about this idea earlier," Reever said, standing at his desk.

"I didn't think it was relevant yet. But look," he glowered at the two of them, "you weren't there to see exactly how freaked out he was when he finally realized he was outside."

"What?" Komui asked.

Lavi placed his head on his interlocked hands, hunched over, "He was freaked out. At first, I didn't think he cared where he was, but then I asked him about his master, and he started freaking out about being outside," he glanced up at them, green eyes seething, "He specifically said 'I'm not supposed to be out here'. And even I can't replicate the amount of fear he had in his voice."

Komui wasn't sure how to respond to that kind of statement, and neither did Reever.

"It was weird though," Lavi sat up, "After I got him to calm down, he started telling me that he'd thought of the wrong master."

"That's why you said he had more than one," Komui replied, just a tad breathless.

"What's that supposed to mean? Did he give any description about this other master?" Reever asked, his fist clenched.

Lavi sighed, "Not really. He just said that one was good to him and gave him a name."

"A name? Wouldn't that be Mana, the man who took care of Allen after the circus?"

"He told you about Mana?"

"No, Cross did. Told me about the circus as well."

"Ah, right, you mentioned the circus before…why'd he tell you about that? And what about Mana?"

"I'm not sure why he told me…anyway, the thing with Mana was that he'd given Allen his current name. It used to be 'Red'."

"Why 'Red'…oh, the arm."

"Yes…but would Allen consider Mana a master?"

"Hmm?" Lavi frowned, "No…that sounds weird. From what I know, he considered Mana a father more than a master…at least, that's what he said. I can't be sure."

"So then…just in case it's not Mana, then who is the master he was talking about?"

* * *

'Teeth and gum quality are okay, though it could be better…tonsils are fine…ears and nose are clear…his sinuses are a little stressed from his heavier than usual breathing…lymph nodes are fine…his stomach seems a bit small, like he hasn't eaten as much as he should…his liver is fine…'

She mulled over a lot of different information as she considered what she could, contemplating it all quietly as Allen awaited further instructions.

'He responded well to the cranial nerve tests…his eyes respond well, though I'd figured that from his eye test results…no abnormalities or anything…'

The boy yawned lightly, another shiver running through his body. Head Nurse looked up from the clipboard, sort of expecting his tiredness after getting some of the health information before.

"Are you tired, dear?"

Allen blinked sleepily for a moment until he woke up a bit more, "…mmh, m'ybe a lil."

She smiled kindly, "Don't worry, we don't have too much more to go through," she set the clipboard down as she stood to his side, "I'm just going to check how well your body moves for now, alright?"

He nodded silently, trying to wake up some more. She carefully took hold of his arm as she supported it, testing his passive flexing.

"Do you know how much you eat a day?"

This question really seemed to get his attention, though he didn't wake up all the way, still drowsy, "Uhm…maybe a plate or two."

"At each sitting?" she asked, silently already knowing the answer as she switched to his other arm.

"Uhm…no…each day," he replied, a tad nervous.

She began to test his muscle strength, "What do you usually eat?"

"…I'd get vegetables and s'me bread."

'You'd get?' she wondered silently, "What about fruits? Meat?"

"Oh, those too."

She hummed absently as she switched to testing his leg muscles, noticing the half-lie, "What kind of meat would you eat?"

He blinked, staring at the wall, "Uhhm…ehhh…I dunno. The cook'd give it t'me, so I dunno."

"…I see. Did you ever know what they were feeding you?"

"Sometimes…we ate veget'ble soup a'lot."

"We?"

Allen froze up for a second before he shook his head, "Me. I—uh, I got it a'lot."

She decided that right then wasn't the right time to push, beginning to test his reflexes, "If you could, would you eat more?"

"Nuh-uh."

She gave him a look and his face began to flush.

"Mmhh…maybe? Oh!" he startled a bit when his leg suddenly reacted to the test, popping up.

"Don't worry, dear. That's a normal reflex," she chuckled a bit, moving to do the same to the other leg. He frowned as he watched it pop up.

"…Th't's weird."

* * *

"I've got no clue about where he was…" Komui said, one hand on his elbow, the other curled up against his forehead.

"He just kind of popped into existence then. I mean, when you think about it, there's a whole few years of his life he never really talks about."

"Did you ask him about that?"

"No, not really, I'd always figured that he was with Cross…"

The Chief frowned at the way Lavi said the General's name.

"Lavi…I understand you feelings, but we cannot be sure that Cross was the one who put him in…whatever situation he was in."

"Yeah? Well, he's the only master we can pinpoint right now. And doesn't it disturb you a bit how he treats Allen anyway?"

"Well, it's better than Socalo," Reever muttered, working on his papers absently.

"I…I'm not so sure about that," he leaned back in his seat, "I mean, yeah, Socalo doesn't care about his underlings, but he doesn't saddle them with any extra woes. Cross full-out has Allen paying off some of his debts, debts that Cross could have paid off himself if he had the church do it."

"I'm pretty sure the church wouldn't like to have several visits to different brothels on their bill report," Komui replied a tad disdainfully.

"That doesn't matter, at least I wouldn't think it does."

Komui sat for a moment, choosing his words carefully, "…Forgive me if I'm being frank, and I absolutely don't mean to undermine your feelings as a human."

Lavi hummed, frowning.

"It seems that you're more invested in this than I'd probably expect considering your…occupation."

Lavi laughed wryly, "Yeah, I sort of am, honestly. Be sure not to tell Panda-jiji about it."

Komui nodded, sensing that he wasn't done talking. The redhead shifted to the side, sitting lopsidedly as he sat his cheek against his fist, his arm propped up by the armrest.

"I mean, sure, I see this kind of stuff all the time, and it usually wouldn't bother me so much. Don't get me wrong, every time I see it, I get a bit irritated. Bookmen aren't devoid of feelings, after all. We're humans like everyone else."

The two scientists listened quietly.

"It's just…I guess it's just something…" he huffed, not sure how to pick his words correctly.

"It's because it's Allen?"

Lavi turned his gaze over to the Chief, the man's solid face staring back at him.

"Sort of. And, I mean, part of me is still fishing for information. I am a Bookman, after all, and Allen's my main…assignment, you could say. And this kind of information suddenly popping up now is jarring. Seriously, none of us would've known a single thing about this had he not broken out of that 'rewind' ability too early. The combination of wanting to know more and being irritated by knowing more is a vile one."

Komui nodded in understanding as the room became quiet again.

* * *

Allen stood in the middle of the room, arms out to the sides with his eyes closed, Head Nurse silently watching to see if he would lose his balance, though she was pretty sure that he wouldn't.

"…Izit done yet, ma'am?" he asked, sounding a bit impatient. He'd been getting antsy as the tests had gone on, and admittedly, it was a long procedure since it was a full check-up.

"Yes, you've done well. You can open your eyes now," she replied, writing down his results, "Now, I need you to bend forward and try to touch your toes."

Allen huffed a little but complied, bending over so easily it almost surprised her a little. It was the same thing that Allen had done when he had the check-up as a teenager, though, so she sort of expected it. Really, though, he was quite flexible. Rather than touching his toes, he had his hands flat against the ground.

She hummed lightly, checking to make sure his back wasn't curving weirdly. She scowled at how easily his spine was visible in his skin, but she noted that it was only slightly curved, though everyone's spine had a bit of curve to it. It wasn't deep or progressive enough for it to cause her any major concern. Writing down the results, she stood from her seat.

"Alright, this next test will be your last one," she said, smiling a little at his aborted groan, "I need you to get back onto the bed and lie down."

Even with his discontent, he didn't fuss or fight as he complied with her orders, using the stool to get back onto the cot, lying down with his feet facing the back wall of the room, head facing the door. She walked over to the counter, pulling on some latex gloves.

"I need to make sure you understand. These tests do require me to touch your privates to be sure that you are healthy and growing well."

"…I tol'da Chief guy I wazn't sick. He doesn' believe me or somethin'?"

She paused for a moment.

"…Regardless of that, we have to check to make sure you are fine."

"Fine f'r what?" he grumbled.

"For combat, Allen. For your general health. To make sure you are well and won't be falling ill," she turned to him swiftly, her voice getting a bit rough, "I don't want to see you in one of my critical care beds any time soon for any minute reason, do you understand?"

Allen stared at her from his position wide-eyed, mouth shut tightly. After a moment, he turned his head to the side to stare at the wall, looking more than sheepish…ashamed maybe?

"…M'sorry…"

She sighed, moving to the side of the cot, "You don't need to apologize. You asked a question, and I answered it."

He didn't reply nor did he look at her, simply spreading his legs open a little.

"If at any point you feel uncomfortable, let me know and I'll stop."

He gave her a glance from the corner of his eye before he went back to staring at the wall, nodding his head lightly.

* * *

The three men in the room jolted a little bit as one of the doors opened, even though they'd been expecting it at some point. Head Nurse stood there with a few things in her hands, Allen right in front of her, out of the hospital gown and in baggy hospital clothes. He wore an off-white sweater, tan buttons going down the front, the sleeves covering parts of his hands, and deep grey pants which were supposed to end somewhere around the middle of his calf, but ended at his ankle instead. He wore the same red shoes he came in with. The boy held Lavi's jacket in his hands.

"We're done," Head Nurse said a tad stiffly, moving forward with a silent Allen in front of her, eyes brightening a little at seeing Lavi. Once his eyes caught him, he jogged forward a bit until he came up in front of him.

"Hey, shorty!" the redhead called, leaning forward in his seat, "How'd everything go?"

"Uhmm…okay, I guess," he replied, starting to smile a bit, "…'m an exorcist now too, y'know."

"That so? Great! Do you want to celebrate it?" he stood up, saying thanks lowly as Allen handed his jacket back.

"Cel'brate? Mmh…we don' hav'ta if y'don' wanna."

Lavi grinned, "No, I insist!"

"That is actually a good idea," Head Nurse said, coming forward, "Allen should eat something as soon as possible. Until Inspector Link returns, I assume you'll be watching over him?"

"…I guess so?" he replied.

Suddenly, he found one hand holding a medium-sized white paper bag, more, smaller paper bags inside of it, the other with informational papers, "Good. I'll need you to read all of these and keep them in mind. Some of the pills he'll need to take on a full stomach, so I advise that you give them to him when you go to the cafeteria. I put a small notebook inside of the bag so you can record when he takes what."

Lavi's eyes widened for a moment before they clouded with concern, "What…"

"Read the papers, dear. I'm sure Allen's ready for some food right about now, aren't you?" she asked, looking down to the boy.

He blinked up at her before nodding, his stomach growling a little in confirmation. His face flushed a little at the unnecessary reveal, but didn't do anything else.

Lavi closed his eyes with his next smile, placing the papers in the medium bag, "Alrighty then! Let's go get some food, Allen!" He reached his now free hand down to take the boy's.

Allen smiled up at him as he took it, the two walking over to the door. Before the left, Allen looked back into the room and waved lightly.

"See yuh, Nurse, Chief…uhm…"

"Reever's good," the Australian replied, smiling lightly.

Allen nodded, leaving the office. Once the door closed completely, a few moments passed before Komui stood from his seat.

"How was he?"

The Head Nurse sighed, "There's a list of things not particularly well with him. He's shorter than normal for a boy who will grow to be his size at 15, and underweight for his short height."

"…How far underweight?"

"He's about ten pounds underweight for even the light spectrum of his weight class."

Komui's fists balled up on his table, crumpling some of his papers up.

"He's dehydrated, so he'll needs lots of fluids. It'll help his low blood pressure as well. He's also anemic, which explains why he gets cold so easily, his fast heartbeat, and his phases of tiredness. I prescribed him some iron and B-12 pills as well if Allen displays a distaste for meat or vegetables, which I doubt he would. I would like to keep that base covered, anyway, since I don't know this Allen's eating habits. I doubt it's that he can't digest it well, but that his diet wasn't providing it. He has some Vitamin C in there, too, to help his immune system while he gets better."

"…Did he say anything about what he used to eat?"

"Vaguely, something about vegetable soups and bread. I made sure to include a dietary list with the papers, so he should be eating a lot more meat and other high-calorie foods. He should eat them in smaller portions throughout the day, though. His stomach was also smaller than normal, and I fear he'd regurgitate if he ate too much at once. They should also start out low on the grease until he gets healthier. He should be coming back to see me once a week to make sure he's growing well. It'd be nice to see him start regulating his internal body temperature better after another few weeks…" she glanced over at the door, "if this situation lasts that long."

Komui slumped into his chair, placing a hand over his face, "I would hope not, honestly."

'Good God, it's like he was going to drop dead in a few days or something,' the Chief thought, breathing out a heavy sigh. Suddenly, he had a thought.

"Head Nurse, what kind of condition was Allen in when he first arrived as a 15 year old?"

"If I remember correctly…a bit underweight, but not heavily so. He was a tad anemic, but he could regulate his body temperature well enough to not shiver. Didn't have low blood pressure, and he wasn't malnourished or dehydrated."

Komui hummed, 'If he came in that condition, what's the difference between that time and three years ago?'

"…Chief Komui."

He moved his hand away from his face, watching the frowning nurse approach, "Yes?"

"There's something I want you to get Bookman to look in to, if he has the time," she then handed him a sheet of paper.

The only thing on the paper was a strange mark. It looked somewhat like an anchor, the top of the symbol having a small circle where one would put the rope, the small bar below the circle, then the rest of the anchor. Rather than just that, it had two diagonal lines going through it on both sides. The way the lines crossed over, it made a diamond shape in the middle, the straight portion of the anchor-like symbol going through it. The bottom diagonal lines just bisected, not having enough lines to make the bottle of another diamond shape.

"What is this? Where did you find it?"

"I don't know what this is."

Komui frowned, waiting for the Nurse to continue. She huffed, calming her anger before she spoke again.

"I found it burned into Allen's lower back."


	8. Amabile

**I'm back. I went through a rough spot in real life, so I didn't update for a while. I hope to be more frequent from here on.**

 **Eeeerrrh…this chapter was strangely hard to write. Maybe I'm just tired.**

 **Thanks again for all of the favs, follows, and reviews. Speaking of which, liketolaugh, I made that symbol up. Good thing you didn't try to look for it, haha.**

 **Here's the next update, I hope you guys enjoy it.**

 **Stay shiny. *jazz hands***

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: I'm not getting money for dishing out feels.**

* * *

Lavi walked hand-in-hand with Allen, the two headed to the cafeteria. The white-haired boy kept sighing lightly as they walked, blinking a few times as if he couldn't quite keep them open. Lavi frowned at it, but could understand.

'He's been through a lot, even just today…'

"Hey, shorty," he called to him lowly, watching the boy look up to him, "Are you tired?"

"Mmh…kinda." The way his voice seemed to drag a little proved it, too.

"Don't worry, we're just going to get you something to eat, then you can take a nap, alright?"

"Mmmkay…Head Nurse had somethin' 'bout food in th'papers..." he replied, rubbing at his left eye.

Lavi smiled kindly at him, "Ah, thanks for the reminder."

Allen nodded silently, seeming a little more awake as the smell of food began wafting toward them. The redhead hummed lightly, moving the bag to his underarm as he began to look over the paper's he'd been given. The one on the very top was a dietary plan, detailing what he should eat and how often he should do it, also stating which pills he should take at what time.

While initially he'd been surprised by the list, he sobered quickly, remembering how thin Allen had been when he held him close so he wouldn't be affected by his Innocence. He took note of everything, making sure to remember it for later.

He felt a backwards tug on his hand, and he paused, looking back to Allen. They were almost at the cafeteria, the first door being just a few steps away, but the boy had stopped short, fidgeting cautiously.

"Something wrong, Allen?"

He looked up to Lavi, chewing on his lip, "I f'got. Do ya have money?"

He blinked, "Uhm, yeah, but we won't need that."

"How'er ya gonna pay for th'food then? I can't."

'Oh…that's what he meant.'

Lavi smiled lightly, "You don't have to worry about that. The food doesn't cost anything!"

He had to draw his lips in to keep from laughing in surprise at the purely skeptical and unamused look the boy gave him. His eyes were half open as he gazed up at him, his eyebrows raised and tilted inwardly a bit. He could even see the beginnings of a scowl pull at his lips. It was surprising to see the kinds of faces he could pull.

'Oh shit, he looks like Kanda!' he thought, his shoulders trembling.

"No, no, no, seriously, the food is free!"

"Uh-huh."

Yup. Not convinced at all.

Lavi sighed playfully, "Oh well, I guess I'll just have to show you, huh?"

Allen's expression took a different turn at that. He looked off to the side, seemingly becoming indifferent, though his shoulders stiffened. His eyebrows scrunched worriedly. The redhead had several questions about why he'd become like that, but he pushed it away, remembering that needed to feed him.

He walked into the cafeteria quietly for once, wanting Allen to get used to the scenery…again. He blinked curiously at some of the pictures on the walls, but his interest became more muted the further they walked into the room. While the finders had been minding their own business before, they slowly quieted down, watching as Lavi entered the room with Allen. Some of them began muttering amongst themselves, their eyes glued onto the small, pale boy who held tightly to Lavi's hand.

"Is that…isn't that…"

"That's what I thought, but…"

"…a mission yesterday…"

"…knew there would be trouble but…"

"Awww, look. He's pretty cute…"

Allen pressed himself into Lavi's side, the redhead blinking down at him.

"You okay, lil guy?"

He nodded, "…Jus' h'ngry."

"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore," he smiled, "Here we are! The crowned glory of the Black Order's cafeteria!"

Lavi gestured with a single-handed jazz hand toward Jeryy, who had come up to the order window, the man blushing lightly as he laughed.

"Oh darling, you flatter me!" he cheered, one hand to his cheek as he waved the other absently. Then he caught sight of Allen peeking over the counter, and his face positively lit up.

"Oh my stars! Well aren't you just the cutest little thing!"

Allen blushed, looking away. Lavi's eyebrows rose, surprised that Jeryy had adapted to the situation so quickly. Well, he was known for being pretty versatile.

"Well, what would you like today, Allen?"

The boy contemplated him for a moment, "Uhm…whatev'r y'make is fine."

"Oh my goodness, what a cute little accent you have! You're just too adorable!" he cheered, "It's okay to order what you want, dear!"

He looked at the floor, "Ummm…uhmmm…but…'m not sure how'ta pay f'r it."

Jeryy's expression turned concerned, glancing over at Lavi. Lavi placed a finger against his head, poking it three times. Once he mouthed the word 'memory', Jeryy got it completely.

"Ah, if you need help, Allen, here. You can order something off of the paper," Lavi said, handing the boy the dietary list.

He seemed to be fine with it, searching the paper for something he'd be interested in. While he was distracted, Jeryy motioned for Lavi to come closer to the ordering window. The redhead obeyed, leaning toward him.

"He's actually lost his memory?" the cook whispered.

"Yeah, most of it. He remembers some things, but not others. He's actually been…er…'rewinded' is the best way to put it. His body is just like it was maybe three years ago."

"Only three?"

"I know, I was kind of surprised, too."

"I thought he'd just been shrunk like you had back then," the cook admitted, grinning at the blush that spread across his nose.

"Uhm…"

"Oh," Jeryy turned his attention to Allen, smiling lightly, "what will you be having, sweety?"

"I'd like…" he looked back at the paper, "sweet potatoes 'n peas."

Lavi looked at the list and counted silently, "Pick one more thing, Allen."

He looked a tad conflicted, gazing up at the young man. Lavi grinned.

"It'll be fine. You won't have to worry about paying anything."

Allen's frown took a moment to dissipate, but once it did, he found another thing on the paper, "…'n rice."

Jeryy nodded, "White or brown?"

"Brown," Lavi answered, patting Allen's head, "A little light on the butter…maybe put some cinnamon on his potatoes, too," he leaned in, "and please keep the servings a bit smaller. We're not completely sure how much he can eat yet."

He looked just a bit confused, but he figured it was for Allen's good, nodding as he wrote the order down, "And for you, Lavi?"

"Hmmm…" he looked back toward the little boy, who had turned to look at one of the walls curiously, "I think I'll have the same. Regular butter and a little cinnamon on my potatoes, if you would."

Jeryy smiled brightly, "I'll let you know when your orders are ready! Feel free to have a seat."

"Thanks, Jer-bear!" he sang, turning to Allen, who turned around at the sound of his voice, "C'mon, let's get a close seat so we don't have to walk far once the food is ready!"

He smiled a little, "M'kay."

* * *

Lenalee stretched lightly, having paused in the middle of the hallway on her way to the cafeteria. She was glad that Kanda had tolerated her enough to let her meditate with him, but she had been getting hungry and left.

'Hmm…I think I'll probably get some zhajiangmian.'

"I'm surprised they didn't get into any more trouble, to be honest," a deep voice said, coming around the corner.

"You don't call that trouble?" another, lighter one asked.

"Well, the exorcists tend to face all kinds of things…remember the zombie incident?"

"Yes, but that was Chief Komui's fault! And we weren't actual zombies…"

The two finders paused as they walked, noticing Lenalee as she smiled a little at them.

"Good day," she greeted.

The one with the lighter voice became a little flustered, "M-Miss Lee! I-I uh…"

"Don't worry," she smiled, raising her hands, "I know he can be pretty troublesome sometimes."

"I'm glad you understand," the deeper voiced on said, nodding down at her.

"Uhm, if you don't mind me asking, what kind of trouble were you talking about?"

"Oh," the shorter one brightened, "Well, Master Lavi and Master Walker have returned from their mission, but it seems they had a bit of trouble during it…" he quickly began to reword what he was saying when he noticed the fear begin to build on her face, "N-not that it was serious!"

"It's kind of cute, to be honest," the other said calmly.

"Eh?"

"You'll know when you see them. They're in the cafeteria," he smiled reassuringly before pushing his flustered friend along, "You've really got to work on your language skills."

"It was a slip of the tongue!" he turned around briefly, "Good day, Miss Lee! And furthermore—"

She watched them continue on for a moment before she turned and began to walk faster to the cafeteria.

'Trouble…he said it was cute, though…and if they are in the lunchroom, surely it can't be that big of a deal…right? I wouldn't think so…'

Even though she kept trying to convince herself that there wasn't any problem, she couldn't help it if her eyes widened a little in worry, if her lips made a straight, tense line on her face. She kept telling herself that it didn't matter, that they were most likely fine, but if she broke into a run, well, no one could blame her.

She was already deaf to the chatter of other people once she skidded to a stop before one of the cafeteria's arches. Her eyes searched the room with the precision of a hawk, her gaze locking onto a big tuft of shockingly red hair near the ordering counter, and she felt her muscles relax a little.

Without thinking too much about it, she walked briskly over to the table, being careful to not knock into anyone, and wrapped her arms around his neck. She closed her eyes, sighing as a hand reached up and patted her arm.

She could feel Lavi's laugh from the way his shoulders moved, the sound of it a joy to her ears.

"Yo, Lena-lady," she could hear the grin in his voice.

"God, I'd thought you guys had gotten hurt…" Lenalee groaned.

"Hurt? Nah, only a few scratches. We'd gotten roughed up a bit, but we're fine. The finders are spreading the word around?"

"Yeah, but one said you and Allen had gotten into trouble!" she opened her eyes to look across to where she assumed Allen was, "What on earth were they…"

She felt her jaw drop a little.

The little boy across from the two of them stared at her with surprise. His gaze switched from her eyes to Lavi's for a split second before they met hers again. He then blinked, hunching in on himself a little bit.

Lavi laughed, "No need to be nervous, kiddo! This is Lenalee! She's a friend of mine."

The boy looked between the two again, a small blush crossing his nose as his eyes seemed to settle into understanding.

"…'ello."

Lenalee finally shut her mouth, her smile wavering just a tad as she slid into a seat beside Lavi, "Hi! As he said, I'm Lenalee."

"M' Allen. But'cha already said that," he pouted a little, "M'name passes 'round too quickly."

"Awww, we're you looking to introduce yourself to someone?" Lavi teased lightly.

"Nah…just that stuff passes 'round fast. Dunno how to feel 'bout it."

"Oh…" then, Lavi heard someone whistle from over at the ordering counter, "Ah, that must be us. I'll go get our food, okay?"

Allen nodded, watching the teen stand.

"Hey Lena, want me to order you something while I'm up?"

"Hmmm? Oh, uhm…zhajiangmian," she smiled lightly, "Thanks."

He grinned in reply, giving a salute before he headed off to where Jeryy waited for him. Lenalee laughed under her breath at his antics before she glanced out of the corners of her eyes. Allen watched the exchange between the two closely, gazing after Lavi until he noticed that Lenalee was looking at him. He hunched in on himself a little again, looking off to the side.

She had to admit, this Allen was cute, but…for some reason, she could imagine him being a little sad, too. That's when she noticed the bunch of papers and the bag on the table in front of where Lavi sat.

"What are those for?" she asked, turning to the boy.

"Mmh…they're mine. Nurse gav'em to 'im fer me. Guess he's suppose'ta take care ov'me or somethin'."

"Oh…do you know what they are?"

He shrugged. His gaze turned a little curious toward her then.

"D'ya like 'im?"

She blinked wide-eyed at him, not expecting the question.

"What?"

"D'ya like 'm?" he glanced back over to Lavi, noticing him giving Lenalee's order, "He seems t'like ya, at least."

"Oh, uhm…what makes you say that?"

He looked her straight in the eyes, "He's gettin' yer food for ya. And he let y'hug 'em 'n stuff. And…uhm…"

She smiled lightly, though it was dipped with a bit of concern, "Allen…he does that all of the time. Well, sometimes. It doesn't mean he likes me like that."

"Oh…" he looked down at the table for a moment, "…why's he so nice?"

She didn't get to answer him though, Lavi arriving back at the table with two trays.

"Food delivery!" he sang, placing his tray down first, "Here, we have a lovely plate of lightly cinnamon-ed sweet potatoes and some delicious green peas with nicely buttered rice!"

Allen blinked at Lavi's plate, looking over it curiously. His lips pursed for a moment before releasing, swallowing some of the saliva that was quickly building in his mouth.

"And here's the same for shorty!" Lavi cheered, putting Allen's tray down in front of him.

The plate looked almost the exact same, save for the fact that his drink was water instead of the juice in Lavi's cup, and the servings were just a tad larger than Lavi's, though not nearly as big as the servings would be on a normal basis.

The shock on his face surprised both of the older exorcists.

"…This is mine?"

"Yep," Lavi said, his smile just a tad sad. Lenalee gave him a short look that Allen didn't see, but Lavi didn't answer her.

Allen stared at the plate for a moment before he looked up at Lavi, his gaze suspicious. When he looked long enough and noticed no lie in his expression, he looked back down at his plate, his expression changing from suspicious to hungry.

"Are ya sure? Y…y'can afford this?"

Lavi shook his head before smiling reassuringly, "The food here doesn't cost anything, Allen. I promise."

Allen stared a little longer.

Lenalee closed her eyes, "…It isn't free."

Both Allen and Lavi jolted, looking over at the Chinese girl. While the young boy tried to hide the way his expression had begun to harden, Lavi didn't bother holding back his confusion, his eyebrows scrunching up.

"You pay for the food through being an exorcist," she continued, opening her eyes, "It's a lot of work working with the Black Order. Sometimes things can get really tough for a person to get through."

The redhead's eye brightened, understanding where she was going with it.

"In this place, no matter what job you have, it's hard, and the odds will more often than not be stacked against you. As people willing to face those odds, they give you things rather than money. Food, clothes, a place to stay…"

Lavi nodded, "That's what I meant by the food not costing anything. Sorry I didn't explain it better before! I know I said it was free at a point, but it's not. You work for it."

All of Allen's confusion cleared up then, nodding lightly as he picked up his fork, "Oh, I get that. This is cause I help'd'ya get rid'ov those AKUMA, right?"

"Well…basically," Lavi replied, "I mean, you kind of automatically get all of this stuff if you become an exorcist or a finder or something."

"Oooh…that's why those scientist guys don' get paid."

"Ummm, yeah," he frowned a little, not completely sure what he was talking about.

Allen hummed lightly, his fork sticking into the rice carefully. He picked up a forkful of the grains, his eyes positively glowing as he watched the steam come off of it. He swallowed his saliva again as he moved it closer to him.

The two older exorcists watched him, absolutely entranced by his cautiousness as he sniffed at the rice lightly. Finding nothing off about the smell, he opened his mouth before closing his lips around the fork.

If it were possible for stars to literally light up in someone's eyes, they were sure Allen would do it.

He quickly chewed the food in his mouth, a light flush coming over his face. Then, he swallowed heavily, all of his food traveling down his throat.

"Ish good!" he cheered, seeming more alive than he'd been all day.

Lenalee felt her heart warm in her chest, unable to hold back the smile that stretched her lips. Lavi grinned back at the boy.

"Yup! That's Jeryy's cooking for you!"

Allen didn't even wait for him to say it before he started eating again. This time, he looked a lot more like their common Allen, practically shoveling food into his mouth. Lenalee would've laughed if it didn't make the warmth in her heart clench for some reason.

* * *

Lavi made small talk with Lenalee while she waited for her food to be done, Lavi only taking a few bites of his own food. Allen, on the other hand, was completely focused on emptying the plate, and didn't bother paying attention to any conversation.

By the time Lavi was about a fifth of the way done with his food, Allen had finished his plate, and was trying to discreetly lick any bit of food left off of it. The boy would wait until he thought Lavi was deep in conversation before he'd tilt the plate toward his face, licking some of the leftover potato streaks. The plate was so close to nearly clean, if it'd been sitting on a counter, someone might have just thought it lightly dirty, save for the streaks of saliva Allen's tongue left behind.

Once Lavi noticed him lick over the same place five times, he knew there was nothing left.

"Ooookay, kiddo, that's enough," he joked, turning to the boy.

Allen froze where he was, eyes wide as he stared up at the redhead, his tongue still touching the plate. Lenalee had to draw her lips in to keep from laughing.

"I think you're done with that plate, don't you?" he held his hand out, "Here, I'll get you another one."

Allen frowned, "Another…"

"Yeah…you're still hungry, right?" Lavi asked.

The boy's stomach answered for him, growling lightly. He tried to ignore the flush that began to spread across his cheeks, but he wasn't doing a good job at it. Despite all of this, he still shook his head, placing his plate back onto his tray.

"M' good."

Lavi looked a little exasperated, but it was all with good humor, "C'mon, shorty. Your own stomach doesn't agree with ya."

He shook his head again.

The redhead frowned a little, getting concerned, "…Allen, if you want some more food, you can tell me. There's no problem with it."

Allen glared at him before looking off to the side, "I don'eed any more food. M' good."

"Says who?"

Allen looked at him from the corners of his eyes, confused.

"Who said you don't need any more food?"

The boy didn't see fit to grace that question with an answer, looking away again.

'…It was that "Master", wasn't it…' Lavi kept the glare off of his face, though.

Lenalee looked between the two, confusion and concern on her face. The 'Allen' she knew would never reject an offer at food. And even now, when Allen could order any food that he wanted, he refused to? What was going on? It was clear that he'd lost some memory, but…why would it make him act the way he was?

"Allen, are you still hungry?" Lavi asked again

"I said I don'—" he cut himself off, closing his mouth.

"It's not a matter if you need it right now. I'm just asking what you want."

The boy looked off to the left, then to the right, fidgeting the whole time. Finally, after a moment, he nodded.

"But I don'eed it."

"Right…" Lavi glanced over at Lenalee, who gave him the same concern in return, "…But, you would like some more if it's no trouble, correct?"

"Mmm…yeah. If there ain't any trouble."

"Hmmm…how about this? We'll go up to Jeryy and ask him if he'll make you another plate, okay?" Lavi stood from his seat.

"Oh, I can go with him," Lenalee volunteered, standing as well, "My food is probably almost ready anyway."

"You sure?"

She nodded, noticing Allen watch their exchange closely, "Besides, you still need to look over the things that Head Nurse gave you."

"Right, right, thanks," Lavi returned to his seat, looking over to Allen to see what he'd do.

Other than the slight surprise on his face, he didn't look too fazed…or convinced. It wasn't until Lenalee said that she wanted him to come that he slid out from his seat to follow her.

He sighed. The 'Allen' he was dealing with now was completely different from the boy he first met all those months ago. He was much more timid and careful, so very careful about things he wouldn't be in normal circumstances. Judging from what he was wearing before though, he could imagine that this was only the tip of the iceberg.

'I'm not sure I'm ready for any new revelation yet…' he thought, looking over the papers as he brought a forkful of his own food to his mouth. His shoulders drooped a little as he skimmed over the papers, seeing the kind of condition Allen really was in. He sort of expected it, since his Innocence is active yet he made a big deal about eating less. He couldn't help but wonder what kind of trouble his eating habits must've caused him in the past.

That's when he got particularly curious. After all, if Allen was so against eating, wouldn't he still be that way under Cross' wing? Instead, he ate just about anything he felt like, and even in some of the stories he told, he mentioned eating several bowls of food.

'Alright then,' he brought another forkful to his mouth, 'let's say that Cross isn't the "other Master" Allen was referring to…' his eyebrows drew down into a frown.

'Then who is?'

He let the thought drift off, settling it into the back of his mind for later as Lenalee and Allen returned, Lenalee holding her tray of food and Allen looking a little star struck.

Lavi grinned, "I'm guessing there's no problem."

The little smile that Allen gave him was probably the best answer he could ever get.


	9. Tacet

**I really wanted this story to update faster, so I'll keep trying!**

Also, things might get really uncomfortable, hold onto your souls. You'll understand.

 **Thanks for all of your favs, follows, and reviews!**

 **Stay shiny! *jazz hands***

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: I heard that DGM might update this month! It only updates quarterly right now.**

* * *

Allen had opened up more as they kept eating. It seemed a bit easier for him to talk to Lenalee than him before, but now he'd relaxed enough that conversation came easily—when he paused long enough from eating. He was still a bit guarded toward him, but that didn't matter so much, Lavi had decided. As long as Allen was enjoying himself, things would be fine.

It was amazing, though, exactly how good Allen was at saying a lot but saying so little at the same time.

Lavi had been needling for information for points of the conversation, and the boy seemed to always avoid it. Eventually, he stopped trying, deciding that he'd try again later.

By the end of Allen's second plate, having taken his pills before he started, the boy was blinking sleepily at the table when he wasn't moving too much. The redhead was sure that if they left the boy to his own devices long enough, he'd probably hit his head on the table from falling asleep. Lavi gave a small laugh.

"Well I'm done here, how about you?" he asked, grinning as Allen jolted awake again.

"'M done."

"You sure, kiddo?"

He nodded in reply, and his stomach didn't make any noises to object.

'He's supposed to eat smaller meals anyway. He can eat again later if he gets hungry…I should get some fruit before we go, though,' Lavi nodded, standing up as Lenalee took another bite out of her meal.

"Lenalee, Allen and I are gonna go for now. You cool by yourself?"

She rose and eyebrow at him and he laughed.

"So," he began, pulling Allen's tray from in front of him to stack his own plate on top of it, "do you want to go to sleep first, or take a bath before that?"

The white-haired boy blinked at him before he answered, "Uhm…a bath."

Lavi nodded, taking the dishes with him as he moved away from them, "Just wait here for a second, I'll be back."

"Okay."

Allen watched as he walked away from them, and Lenalee took notice of his expression. It seemed a little expectant, the reason for whatever expectations he had genuinely unknown.

"Allen? Are you okay?"

He looked over to her without blinking or moving his head, "Yeah. I was kinda e'spectin' it a'some point."

She frowned, "…Expecting what?"

He stared at her for a moment, as if he was trying to figure something out about her. Then, he stopped trying, shaking his head.

"I'z nothin'."

Before she could ask anything else, Lavi returned with a small bag of fruit.

"You ready to go, kiddo?"

"Mmhmm," he slid out of his seat, "Wha'z that for?"

"Just in case you get hungry later. That way, you don't have to go to the cafeteria."

He nodded silently, not taking notice of the way Lenalee flinched at Lavi's wording, getting his papers together while Lavi took the pill bag and placed it in the one with the fruits. Allen handed him the papers, and the older one thanked him, placing it in the bag as well.

"Uh, Lavi?" Lenalee called, her hands tightening on her chopsticks.

"Hmm?"

She opened her mouth, frowning, then closed it, struggling with what she wanted to say. She wasn't completely sure of what the problem was in the first place, wasn't sure of what Allen was expecting. She had a growing suspicion, just a tiny inkling at the back of her mind, but she was intuitive. Even if she wasn't correct, she knew that whatever Allen was expecting wasn't good.

Either way, saying something like what she wanted to say would probably seem like she was coming straight out of left field with it. Instead, she settled with a vaguer message. She knew it would probably confuse the boy even more, but at least Lavi would understand. She hoped so, anyway.

"…Be sure you explain things to him."

Lavi's eyebrows twitched just a little, thoughts flitting quickly through his mind, "Yeah, of course Lenalee. I'll see you later!"

Allen absentmindedly took his hand as the two left, and Lavi didn't object, not that he would anyway.

* * *

Bookman returned from his clean-up mission. There had been a few AKUMA clumped together in one particular area, and they were getting a bit too feisty. Considering his caution at becoming too connected with his Innocence, Komui typically assigned him light missions, just enough for him to cause a dent in the Millennium Earl's plans, but not too much so that he couldn't do his real job.

The older man sighed, knowing that he'd need to stretch to get rid of the stiffness in his neck and back, but decided to not pay it too much mind. He nodded to the finder that had traveled with him before he opened the door to Komui's haphazard office to give his report.

Said chief seemed buried in his paperwork per usual, though Bridget was there at the moment as well, silently cleaning up some of the papers to keep the cleaning process on her personal schedule. He gave her a nod when he entered, and she returned the sentiment, moving closer to Komui.

"Chief, you should continue your work."

Bookman didn't show any surprise on his face when Komui hummed drowsily as he sat up without any problems. He was getting used to it still, but it didn't startle him anymore.

"Also, Bookman is here to give his mission report," she finished, getting back to organizing the office.

"Right, right, thank you," he yawned, "Well, I presume your mission went well, Bookman?"

"As well as it could, I suppose," the man replied, handing his report to Komui, who took it as he patted his desk for his glasses. Bridget picked them up from the other side of his desk, handing them to him. He nodded in thanks.

"The town had increased in the amount of AKUMA by the time I arrived, but that is also because the amount of people there had decreased from more…bloody means."

The look on Komui's face was tired, and not from a lack of sleep, "I see."

"Nevertheless, they've been cleared out. The finders have efficiently taken care of the rest of the situation, including informing or wiping the memory of the witnesses," he turned away from the chief, "I assume that will be all?"

Komui hummed lowly as he read the report before he blinked, jolting in his seat lightly, "Ah, actually, please wait a moment."

Bookman turned back to him, his face set as usual, his question unspoken.

"You see, I need more information on this mark," Komui said with a frown, searching the top of his desk.

"It's on the left corner."

"Thank you," he picked it up, handing it to the older man, "You see, Mr. Walker encountered a…mishap while on his mission, and his body and mind have regressed to when he was roughly twelve years old. This mark was found burned into the lower right side of his back. What does this mean?"

Bookman's eyes widened slightly at the revelation, before he looked at the mark on the paper.

…Huh.

* * *

The two had to stop by the hospital before going to Lavi's to drop the food of so Allen would have some more clothes to wear for later. Luckily, Head Nurse had already foreseen this and had some clothes prepared for him. They weren't hospital clothes, meaning she'd gotten them from the tailors and seamstresses, and were rather simple things that covered well, many of them long-sleeved and made with a warm material with consideration to Allen's anemia.

She let Lavi know that Allen's new exorcist uniform would be ready soon, Johnny hard at work on it. She looked ready to object to the idea, and Lavi could understand. He had a feeling that Allen would still have to go back out onto the battlefield once Lvellie got wind of his condition and Link returned. Such was the fate of an exorcist, unfortunately.

Allen took the clothes gratefully, carrying them all the way back to Lavi's room.

"After the bath, which ones do you want to wear?" Lavi asked, knocking on the door lightly to see if Bookman was in.

"Mmmh…these."

He picked a loose, light red long-sleeved shirt, the end of the shirt reaching halfway down his thighs. He also picked out some loose grey pants to go with it. Allen eyed his new boxers curiously, but said nothing about them.

Lavi nodded, "Here, I'll leave them in here for now. We can put them away later," he opened the door to his bedroom.

Allen tilted his head, noticing the papers strewn on the floor. Lavi lifted the rest of Allen's clothes from his hands, shuffling into the room as he grumbled lightly about having to clean up later.

"Ah, you can just wait out there for a second! I'll be right out!" Lavi called, noticing Allen begin to enter the room.

The boy blinked a little owlishly at that, but backed up anyway, waiting in the hallway. He could hear the redhead shuffling around inside, but didn't bother getting close to look. He took notice that some of the papers that he'd seen on floor near the door had been picked up before the shuffling noises continued. At one point, he actually heard something topple over, Lavi letting out a light curse.

"Are ya okay n'there?"

"Yeah! I'll be right out, I have to get my clothes."

"Uhm…'kay."

'In't this my bath though? Is he gettin'in with me?'

After a few more moments, Lavi slipped out from his partially open door, holding clean clothes in his hand, closing it behind him silently. He then grinned over to the young exorcist.

"Alright, let's go!" he cheered, leading them to the bathroom.

"…Okay."

The two kept walking, but Lavi gave him a look, "Everything okay, kiddo?"

"…Are you getting in with me?"

"Hmm? Yeah…" he trailed off, realizing his mistake, "Well, it's an open bath."

The boy frowned, "Open…what?"

"Right, you've never been to an onsen. Well, you see, in the Black Order, we typically have a Japanese bath called an onsen. They're split up by gender, so women all go to one bath while men all go to the other."

Allen kept listening quietly.

"You leave your clothes in a basket before you get to the bathing area. For a Japanese bath, you wash your body off before you get into the big tub of water. This is so a lot of people can use the same bath water without it getting dirty, and you get to relax for a while!"

"So the tub's pretty big?"

"Yup!"

"Oh, 'kay."

Considering older Allen's reservations to bathing around other people, little Allen's dismissive reply surprised him. He had been getting ready to let him know that there were European baths in a different section of the bathroom, the rooms closed off for the sake of those who were more modest. But Allen seemed fine with taking the open bath. Still, he wouldn't withhold information like that.

"There's also some European baths, so if you want to bathe by yourself, you can."

The boy frowned, "No, 'm okay."

"Got something against English baths?"

"…Ya can't do'em much, I don' think. And ya gotta do'em fast. I'll try th'onsen."

Lavi wondered if he should correct Allen, letting him know that English baths could be done all of the time now and he could take his time, compared to his life at the circus before…whatever else happened, but they were already at the door. Besides, Allen seemed pretty set on the new bathing experience, so he just decided to go with the flow.

The two walked through the doorway, showing two different doors, one marked for men, the other for women. Lavi removed his shoes at part of the floor that wasn't covered with the tatami mat and placed them at the shoe area near the door, Allen following suit, even if the slippers he put on weren't quite his size.

When they walked into the men's side, there were lots of shelves holding little baskets lined up. None of the baskets seemed to have been moved, so he figured they were the only ones there at the moment. Humming lightly, he chose a basket near the door to the showers for the onsen, Allen following after him, choosing a basket on a lower level next to his row.

"We'll leave our clothes here before we go in, 'kay?" he asked, putting his clean clothes further in the basket as he started taking his shirt off.

Allen watched what he was doing for a second before he nodded, copying Lavi.

'He's like a baby bird, it's really cute,' Lavi laughed a little, though Allen didn't seem phased by it.

Either way, Lavi took the time to scrutinize the boy casually, making sure it wasn't really noticed. He frowned as he noticed Allen's spine push so adamantly against the skin of his back, his ribs just on that side of visible. Seeing that, he couldn't help but wonder if he should've had the boy eat more. He looked really pale, too, but that was expected considering the condition Allen's body was in.

Then, as the boy bent over to take his pants off, accidentally angling himself toward him, he noticed the brand on Allen's back.

Lavi froze, immediately searching his brain for the information attached to the mark.

* * *

"Yarının Sipariş. Turkish for 'The Order of Tomorrow'. It originated in England, but the members of the secret society spread out and made its new base in Turkey to keep their real leaders hidden. If they kept the name and most of their functions foreign, the English government could then fight a power elsewhere while the real enemy stayed undetectable.

"In the beginning, the men and women who were members of the society simply wanted to involve themselves in their basal and crude habits in the presence of others who would accept them. That being said, a fair amount of wealthy men, even some involved in politics, donated money toward its cause, and its ambition boosted.

"The people who became members of this society often wanted free labor, or to indulge their sexual fantasies. Rather than attempt to enforce this legally, they decided to disguise or hide their endeavors completely. They began making a habit of blackmailing innocent people into their cause, using them to work, and if they were caught, they were simply scapegoats while the real culprits lived in peace.

"Of course, for their plans to succeed, they needed more manpower than the people they blackmailed, so they began to participate in slave trade, often having their scapegoats kidnap young men, women, and children from the streets to force them into working one way or the other. To make sure that their practices were deemed foreign, a lot of the children that were forced into their work were sent overseas. They came from many countries, but all ended up at certain bases.

"The order's mark was different depending on the situation and condition of the enslaved person, both so that society members could recognize them, and to make sure that government officials wouldn't be able to identify them by one symbol. Each one would have a different meaning, and if someone with a mark was found in a place they aren't supposed to be in, their system out work it out and make sure the person couldn't escape. Former escapees would be unfortunate enough to have the brand placed again on their face.

"In this case, the mark shows that the bearer was from overseas—thus the reason for the anchor—and they were shipped to Turkey," he drew a small picture of the Turkish lira symbol next to the mark, showing the silent similarities between the two, "Their symbols weren't always so subtle, this one being one of them. They wanted to make sure that all slaves heading to Turkey were fairly recognizable so the government would focus on foreign powers."

Komui had hardened his expression in preparation for the discussion, but Bookman could easily tell that he was rather disturbed by the news. His eyes had darkened, his mouth hidden behind his laced hands.

"…Does the position of the mark matter? As in, does it indicate the kind of work the person had to do?"

"Yes. For manual labor, their marks were placed on the back of their shoulders or on their arms. For the other, as you said, Mr. Walker's mark was located on his lower back. Other times, it would be placed on the outside of their thighs."

Bridget paused her busy working for a moment before she continued. Komui's eyes had narrowed just a bit more.

"I see…" his eyes closed, "You referred to this organization in past tense. Why?"

"It seems that a leak of information occurred roughly three years ago, which eventually led to the downfall of the entire society. Though it is not completely disbanded, it is no longer so vastly popular. Those who had been branded no longer have to fear being returned to their base, and those who claim to know the meaning of the mark are questioned rather vehemently. Yarının Sipariş, as it is, is nearly dead."

There was a bit of relief in his eyes, "Understood…" he sighed, "but of course, as Allen is now—"

"He doesn't know that, I presume."

"…Thank you for informing me of this, Bookman."

"That is what I am for. Rather, I should thank you for giving me this information about Mr. Walker, considering my job."

Komui seemed to be at a loss of words. Had he been a much younger man, Bookman would've consoled him. But he'd seen too much in his long years to be phased by such a development. Child slavery was just one of the many things he had to record.

He did wonder, however, exactly how well Lavi would take the information, considering his…attachment to the boy.

* * *

"…Ya' okay, Lavi?" Allen asked, looking up at the frozen teen's face, hands clasped on the bucket he was about to use to rinse himself off.

Lavi blinked, escaping the torrent rushing through his brain. Quickly masking himself, he managed an easy-going, realistic-enough smile.

"I'm good, kiddo."


	10. Da Capo

**I don't have much to say to be honest.**

 **Thanks,** Cutiepie120048 **, for your review! And thanks to everyone who has been favoring, following, and reviewing this story!**

 **Stay shiny! *jazz hands***

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: Whoop, nope. Nah.**

* * *

'It explains so much…I didn't want to think of it this way, but it really does explain so much.'

Lavi sat in the chair to the filled desk in the bedroom, Allen fast asleep in his bed as he stared at the book in his hand, not really reading it.

The redhead had tried to ignore some of the more blatant signs: the clothes he first wore, his caution toward men, his open behavior toward Lenalee, his quick bond to him despite being heavily guarded, the way he would look expectantly toward things, already visualizing scenarios that wouldn't actually happen… And when he thought about it, those scenarios were just as ridiculous as the kinds of things he'd read in dirty books.

But perhaps they weren't so ridiculous to him, and that made everything that much worse.

He'd seen the kinds of slavery children were forced in to. This wasn't something new, even if it was unnatural and disgusting. Despite his best efforts, he would feel for those children who he saw as he passed by, knowing their plight. It was completely different knowing such a child personally, and even more personal when it was a friend.

...Yeah, the Order grew on him, Allen along with the rest of them. As long as Bookman didn't know, he figured he could be fine.

He sighed listlessly, thinking about the sleepy yet expectant look Allen had given him after he'd settled under the covers. He clenched his teeth, trying to not outright hiss since the boy was finally getting some good rest.

Before he could mull over it too much more, a silent knock graced the door, and he knew who it was immediately. He stood to his feet and walked over, his usually boisterous and loud self unnaturally muted. He creaked the door open lightly, confirming his suspicion that Bookman was there, and if the older man was knocking, then he must know that Allen was in the room, too.

The elder man backed away from the door, letting the redhead slip out, shutting the door silently behind him. Bookman started first.

"I presume Mr. Walker is inside for now."

"Yeah. I haven't told him he has his own room yet. I will soon, though…"

"But?"

"…I'm not sure how well he'll take to sleeping alone. I can't tell if that would be a trigger or not yet."

The man hummed in understanding, "The chief tells me that Head Nurse assigned you to take care of him until Link returns."

He nodded, "I'm in charge of his eating habits and pills."

"Pills?"

"He's anemic, dehydrated, too short to grow as tall as he does, and underweight. He's not on a lot, but he has to take some vitamins twice a day, during some meal."

"I see. Do you know anything else? I presume you've seen the mark already."

"…Yeah. Komui told you?"

The man nodded.

"…Well, the only thing I can think is that there's certain things that might get him to remember his…future. His memory is also kind of mixed up. For example, he remembers who Cross is, but doesn't remember his name. He knew my name, but didn't know who I was. Some other things were completely new to him, like Hevlaska," he couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him.

"… _D'ya know 'bout tha' giant woman here?" Allen asked, having finished brushing his teeth._

" _Hmm? Yeah, Hevlaska."_

 _The boy gave him a rather betrayed look, "Ya didn' think t'warn me?"_

 _Lavi laughed, "Sorry, sorry."_

Lavi shrugged with a small smile, the memory one of the better things of the day, "As it is, I'll try to jog his memory. The more familiar things he's around, the faster it'll be, probably."

Bookman nodded, "Perhaps."

"Did you need to come sleep or something? He's in my bed, so it shouldn't be a problem."

"No, I simply came to check on his progress. I have a few other things to attend to," he replied, turning away from the young man, "Considering his vulnerable state, it's best to be careful with what you do or say. As you feared, there are certain triggers that could set him off."

"Yeah, gotcha."

* * *

Allen woke up from his nap two hours later.

He didn't wake up slowly or anything. Rather, he just sort of blinked and he was suddenly conscious. That's usually how his sleep went, though. He'd be gone, then he'd be back, unless it was one of those rare nights where he dreamed.

He sat up in the bed slowly, stretching and yawning silently. Slightly bleary eyes searched the room until he noticed the form slumped over in the desk chair.

'Ah, Lavi.'

Lavi's body was flopped over his desk, though not so haphazardly that he suddenly conked out, his head buried in one of the many books there. He shifted just a tad in his sleep, sucking up the bit of saliva that was fixing the hit the page. Perhaps it was just intuition to know that would be a bad idea.

Allen frowned, looking just as confused as he was put-off. He'd sort of expected the guy to try to touch him at least once, but he didn't make any move for it. After all, there wasn't really any particular reason for him to be nice to him otherwise. Even so, they went an entire few hours and he didn't make a single move toward him.

Heck, he even showed the guy his mark to see what his reaction would be, if he would know what it was. It seemed as if he recognized it from somewhere, but if anything, the mark pushed the redhead away further. He hummed lowly.

Usually a person would attribute that fact to the young man being a member of the church, but Allen knew better than that. He'd never heard of the Black Order, but perhaps the people here were particularly dedicated to their beliefs. That was something he could appreciate, he supposed. Especially since they were being so nice to him even though he hadn't really done anything to deserve it.

Silently, he slid out of the bed, making sure that he didn't let it creak. When Lavi didn't shift, he looked around for the bag that the young man had brought back with them, finding it sitting on a small table in the room on top of a few more papers and books.

'Wha'd'ya need all this stuff for, anyway?' he wondered, digging into the bag quietly to pick out an apple. He wiped his sleeve on it before he bit into it, surprised by how loud it was. Lavi shifted a little, but otherwise didn't seem to wake up.

'I bett'r eat somewhere else…' he dug into the bag again, taking out two more of the apples that the redhead had gotten for him, holding them in the front of his shirt like a small sack, before he tiptoed his way across the maze of papers strewn across the floor. He glanced at a few of the papers as he passed them, and they were all full of paragraphs in different languages. His eyes widened as he noticed that many of the papers weren't even in the same language.

'What's all this even for?' he frowned over to the slumbering redhead.

Perhaps he could ask at another time. He wouldn't disturb the guy from his rest, especially considering the monsters…ah, AKUMA he'd faced just a few hours before. Allen tip-toed the rest of the way to the door before he bit deeply into the apple he was eating from so he could hold it there. With one hand, he supported his small haul, the other reaching for and turning the doorknob. It didn't click or anything, meaning it hadn't been locked from the inside—good, since he wouldn't be able to lock it back if it had been.

The light from the hallway slipped into the room as he opened the door, so he made sure to keep it as narrow as possible as he peered out. He didn't see anyone there, so he slid the rest of the way out, silently shutting the door behind him, leaving Lavi in the darkness of the room to rest.

Allen stood right before the door, taking the apple out of his mouth so he could wipe the juice that ran down his chin off with his sleeve. There wasn't much there, but he'd still been surprised with just how ripe and delicious the fruit was. In fact, all of the food in the place was delicious, and the boy just couldn't quite fathom how they did it.

'…I guess I c'n probably look 'round f'r a bit.'

He bit into his apple again as he decided to start out by going left.

* * *

"Marie! Kanda!" Krory called, greeting the two exorcists where they stood.

Marie turned his way, even if his eyes never met his own, and Kanda glared at him as always. Originally, he'd been scared of the exorcist, but the young man wasn't so bad. Just…callous. And irritable. But whenever he'd had enough AKUMA blood, he found his company quite enjoyable, even if it was only to fight with him.

"Hello Krory. Do you need something?" Marie asked, smiling.

"Ah, well, not really I suppose," he replied, fiddling with his fingers under the Japanese man's harsh gaze, "I just wanted to say hello. Though…"

"What."

Krory startled for a second, "Ah, uh, I was looking for Allen, actually. I heard that he and Lavi had returned from their mission, but I haven't been able to find him anywhere."

"…Have you checked the cafeteria?" Marie looked a little like he was holding back a laugh.

Krory smiled guiltily in reply, though it was left unseen, "Yes, I checked there before I looked any place else," his tone turned to concern, "but he wasn't there. I even went by his room, but no one replied."

"Tch," Kanda glared off to the side, "the moyashi's probably lost somewhere. You'll knock into 'im eventually."

Then, someone actually knocked into him.

Whoever it was wasn't really tall enough to be noticed early on, and they barely made him budge, his body moving forward just a tad. They, instead, backed away just as quickly as they knocked into him. He opened his mouth to berate whoever it was, though in the back of his mind, he was trying to think if he knew someone as short as the clumsy ditz that couldn't watch where they were going.

"Ah, 'm s'rry miss."

He felt his eye twitch, a vein just beginning to bulge a little at his temple.

He didn't bother wondering why some short-stack was in the Order, knowing that Timothy was still off on his own mission and that Allen wasn't that short. He didn't bother trying to decipher the meaning behind the heavily British accent. He didn't bother asking why Krory was suddenly looking shell-shocked, Marie's face twisted in light confusion. He didn't bother with any of it.

Instead he turned to the short person, glaring down at the idiot.

"Are you daft or something?" he growled, "Watch where you're going."

He did lighten his glare a tad at the surprise that washed over him, though.

Allen looked just as surprised to see him, the suddenly shorter boy's eyes opening wider as he got a good look at Kanda's face and build. Kanda would've thought the shorty to be some random shit from the Order, but the white hair, scar, and…bandaged left hand was a giveaway. The boy stared up at him, holding a chewed-on apple close to his slightly open mouth, though the hand dropped away.

He backed away more, almost backing into the wall of the hallway, worry coming onto his face.

"Oh, uhm…'m sorry, sir. I jus' saw yer hair an'…"

Kanda could feel a headache coming on, "…Moyashi?"

The boy's concern became mixed with confusion, "…Wha'z a…moyashi?"

"A-Allen? Is that you?" Krory asked, eyes wide as he stared at the boy.

His expression turned exasperated, though still worried, "Uh, yeah. Wha's got ya so shocked? Who're you?"

Kanda growled, opening his mouth to call the idiot out on his game, but Marie placed a hand on his shoulder, shaking his head. Right after, Marie smiled down vaguely in Allen's direction.

"I'm Noise Marie. This is Kanda and the man here is Krory. We're all exorcists here."

The boy nodded, though he stopped when he noticed Marie's unseeing eyes, "Ah, yea, I figured that when I saw what yer wearin' n'all…sir," his eyes strayed lightly over to Krory, "As ya seem t'already know, 'm Allen."

Marie nodded, "It's nice to meet you. We're you looking for something?"

Allen responded a tad cautiously, "Yeah, 'm lookin' fer somethin' t'do. Lavi's sleep, so I can't get'im to take me 'round."

Krory blinked, 'Lavi? So he was with Lavi then…'

"Well, I'm free for now, if you don't mind my company."

Allen seemed a tad put-off at the notion, but he smiled lightly anyway, "I don' mind a-t'all, sir."

Kanda could feel himself getting irritated, "Oi, you don't seem too sure about that."

Rather than starting to fuss a bit, like Allen would usually do, he seemed to get even more nervous, his smile turning brighter, "No, sir. I'm grateful fer ya company. Uhmm…" he trailed off, looking away from his face, "Where…were ya lookin' t'go?"

Marie frowned just the slightest, "Well, wherever you saw fit."

Allen seemed more surprised by that fact than strictly necessary. He waited for a moment, almost like he was waiting for Marie to take back what he said. When he didn't, the boy actually started sweating a little. Marie held back his inquisitive frown, but Kanda didn't hold back his growing glare in the least, and Krory looked on nervously between the two usual rivals.

"Oh…uhmm…I-uhh…I…don't really know this place much. 'M good with whatever ya want, sir."

Kanda scowled, not sure what was going on, but he didn't care to find out. If the idiot wanted to be coy or whatever, then he could do that on his own time. Even so, he seemed strangely honest with…most of the things he was saying, and his body language didn't betray his true feelings.

The boy was nervous around them for some reason.

It wouldn't bother him though, and he turned away, "I'm going to the training room. Come, or whatever."

"T…raining room?"

Kanda huffed, "Where you spar and shit to fight against AKUMA. Are you coming or not?"

Only then did Allen step away from the wall, almost tripping himself up to follow the Japanese young man, holding his apples carefully in his shirt, "Yessir, I'm comin'."

Kanda's eye twitched lightly, but said nothing about the constant "sirs" spilling from the boy's mouth. Marie and Krory were just as confused about the situation as the others, but they followed silently, the small group heading for the training room.

* * *

It was a strange sight to Krory, watching Allen try to keep in step with Kanda, though he always made sure to be behind him. The apple he'd been eating before was completely forgotten as he held it among the other ones in his shirt, too focused on following the temporary leader. It was just…too strange considering their usual contact. The man leaned over toward Marie, whispering under his breath lowly, knowing that the blind man would hear him.

"Is Allen okay?"

"…He seems to be. His heartbeat was fast before, but it's much faster now."

"Yeah…I mean, why is he calling us sir?"

Marie frowned a little, "I'm not completely sure, but…his heartbeat was steady when he asked us who we were and told us that he doesn't know his way around the Order well. His heartbeat sped up the more nervous he got, especially when Kanda mentioned the training room. He…earnestly didn't know us, and it's likely he thinks he's meeting us for the first time."

"What?" he asked a little louder, though his lowered his voice quickly, eyeing the white haired boy.

"I'm not sure myself what's happening, but…perhaps Allen has lost his memory along with whatever happened to him."

"Oh..." Krory felt sorry for the boy, "I bet this is the science division's doing…can we do anything to help?"

Marie sighed, "I presume there's a way to help, but I'm not sure of it yet. Lavi must know more about what's happened."

Krory nodded understandingly.

It was just…so weird to see such a small Allen. Well, not really, actually. When he'd seen Kanda and Lavi when they were small, he simply recognized them as his friends. What really made the situation odd was Allen's behavior toward them.

Before, he'd had a kind air about him. He spoke respectfully to everyone—well, almost everyone, and he could be commandeering when the occasion called for it. Instead, the Allen he saw now was doing his best to follow and not offend. It was like he was looking at a small child, someone who wasn't the boy who made him see the light and become an exorcist rather than die a lonely death.

Krory pursed his lips. Allen was obviously in some sort of trouble, so he'd help him out any way he could. He supposed he could at least try to ease the boy's nervousness.

"Allen?" he called out, the boy jolting slightly before he turned to him, "how are you doing so far?"

Allen's expression turned confused as he slowed down a bit, trying to let Krory and Marie catch up more.

"Oh, ah, I mean…since you're new and all. How is the Order?" he smiled.

"Mmh…it's big, sir. There's a'lotta people, that's fer sure."

Krory laughed lightheartedly, "Yeah, it is. I've been lost once or twice here."

"Lost?"

He nodded, "Once, I couldn't find my room after I got back from a mission. That was a while ago though, and I wasn't accustomed to the building yet. The second time was…hmmm…" he placed a hand on his chin, "When was the second time?"

Allen didn't say anything, watching the man as he ran through his memories. It was a bit daunting, having those blue eyes stare at him as he tried to think. He laughed a tad nervously, waving the idea off.

"Oh well, I'll remember it another time."

"Oh…okay…" the boy seemed to think for a moment, "Uhm…d'ya got a weapon? Y'know…t'kill those mon—ah, AKUMA?"

"Hmm? Well, yes," he grinned proudly, "I'm an exorcist, after all."

He hummed, "…Uhm…what…kinda weapon iz'it? I know Lavi's got a hammer," he rose his arm, "and I've got this arm."

"Actually, my weapon is my teeth."

Allen stopped altogether, staring wide-eyed at the man. Krory laughed at his reaction, noticing that it wasn't fearful, just surprised. The white haired exorcist remembered to keep moving once Krory actually passed him. He sped up enough to walk between Marie and Krory, the two smiling down at the child.

"It's…it's yer teeth? How'd'ya do that?"

The boy seemed to have eased a bit, talking with him more casually than even moments before.

Krory grinned, happy that his teeth could be used for something good outside of fighting AKUMA.


	11. In Relievo

**Oh darndy buiscuts! I really wanted this in time for Halloween, but I was a few minutes too late (in my time zone)... Even so, I'm glad I updated it a third time in almost a month. I hope I can keep giving chapters out more frequently for this story.**

 **I had a hard time writing it again for some reason, so it might be a bit lack-luster. My apologies for that.**

 **Big thanks to** Cutiepie120048 **for your review!**

 **Thanks for everyone's favs and follows! I really appreciate them!**

 **Stay shiny! *jazz hands***

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: Nyan. Meow. Gaooo. All of those are Cat-anese for "no."**

 **EDIT: Nov 1: Ah...the thing with the apples. You know how apples start turning a little yellow and brown on the part you bit on when exposed to oxygen? Yeah. That's what's going on. It's not really rotting, it's just...doing general apple things. I wasn't clear with that, my bad.**

* * *

Allen, for all of his previous nervousness, became closer to Krory just by talking about Innocence. The two sat at the edge of the training room, Marie and Kanda sparring. Allen's little legs hung off of the edge, kicking lightly every once in a while, his attention completely on Krory's stories of his adventures. The vampiric man had to make sure he didn't say too much though, censoring himself every once in a while so he didn't reveal the times he spent with normal Allen.

The little boy was intuitive though. He knew when Krory was hiding something, but the boy saw fit to not address it. If there was something he didn't need to know, he just didn't need to know it.

While Krory was enjoying his time with the boy, he couldn't help but wonder what his stories were now. He'd try to hint at a time for Allen to start talking, but he would always seem to ignore it or talk around it. The most he could really get out of the kid were yes or no questions, and even then, he didn't always answer them, the boy thinking a bit too long or saying that he wasn't sure.

That being said, Allen was perfectly fine talking about his arm. There wasn't much to say about it, but he'd describe a few things that Krory didn't know before.

"I couldn' really move m'arm 'r hand as much as normal 'til it first…activated? Yeah. Then I could mov'it a lot bett'r," Allen rose his still-wrapped arm, bending his fingers around. Strangely enough, it seemed he still didn't have a full range of motion yet.

"Oh really?" Krory asked, deeply interested, "When was that?"

Allen paused for a moment, staring at his fingers. Then he looked back up to the man, his expression a tad pinched, but smiling anyway.

"Ah, a while ago."

Krory nodded in understanding, and Allen relaxed a bit more.

"Oi! Brat!"

Both of them jolted a bit, startled by Kanda's sudden yelling. When they looked over, they saw Marie approach them as he wiped the sweat off of his brow, Kanda glaring directly at Allen.

"You. Get over here."

Krory was sort of expecting Allen to give a bit of a fight at not being called by his name, but he had to remember that this Allen was different from the one he knew. When the boy obeyed Kanda without so much as a glare, he was reminded rather quickly.

* * *

Kanda's eyebrow rose lightly as Allen hurried over to him. He was expecting the little shit to be sort of indignant, but Allen was being strange altogether. Maybe it really was as Marie had said when they sparred and he really had lost his memory.

Stupid scientists and their ridiculous inventions.

Either way, if Marie was right, then Allen wouldn't know jack-shit about fighting, and that'd be a problem. He didn't want his workload to get any larger because the little shit got himself killed over not remembering how to get rid of an AKUMA. Little brat or no, he was going to learn something. Hell, Timothy knew how to fight to an extent, so Allen wouldn't be any different.

The short boy stopped in front of Kanda, and for a moment he looked at the ground, but then changed to look him in the eyes, "What iz it…sir?"

Kanda scoffed, glaring down at the boy, "First off, stop with all this 'sir' shit. It's Kanda."

His head tilted lightly, "Ah…'kay, uhm, Kanda."

"Do you know anything about fighting?"

"Umm…sorta? 'M not suppos…I don' fight much."

"Tch, figures," he hissed, turning away from the boy before he addressed him again, "How the hell do you think you'll survive against an AKUMA if you don't know how to fight?"

The boy didn't respond at first, gazing down, but when he could feel Kanda's scowl deepen, he looked back up to him, "Uhm…s—…if ya don't mind…would'ya teach me? Unless ya don' wan'to. I c'n ask Lavi later."

"Whatever, you're already here," Kanda huffed, picking his bamboo sword up, "Just show me what you've got first, brat. Dodge or fight or some shit."

Without much else for a warning, Kanda thrust the sword at Allen's forehead.

Though Krory was very concerned, even calling out to Allen from the sidelines, the boy quickly shifted his head to the side. The look on his face showed how startled he was, but he still avoided being hit. Kanda hummed, twisting his wrist and swinging the sword at Allen's head. The boy ducked under it before he backed away, still confused and out of his element, but participating nonetheless.

He thrust the sword again, though this time at the boy's chest. The boy jumped back quickly, but he wasn't used to the sandy ground and fell back, huffing out at the contact. Kanda wasted no time in angling the sword downward, heading for his legs, but Allen laid completely back onto his back, stretching his legs out to avoid being hit. Then, using the momentum of his movements, he pulled his legs back and over his head, rolling over to land on his feet. He had a look in his eye that was less fearful now, and Kanda couldn't help but smirk.

"Looks like you've got something at least."

Allen had opened his mouth to thank him, but ended up ducking under another swing. The way the boy's mouth pulled into a straight line let him know he wouldn't be speaking again for a while long, something Kanda was sort of grateful for.

It was…something about this Allen pissed him off even more than the older one did.

Sure, there was a weakness that came with being younger that Kanda knew he couldn't help, but it was like there was than then a load of other things about the boy that was suddenly weaker. His will, for one. He was so weak-willed it was ridiculous. Seriously, he couldn't choose where he wanted to go on his own? What the hell was up with that?

Though Allen's bullheadedness always irritated him before, at least he was acting out of his own desires. This kid, on the other hand, wouldn't know what he wanted. He just followed everyone around like he was some thoughtless puppy. Sure, he had some semblance of desire, wanting to go somewhere while Lavi was apparently out for the count, but that's about as far as it went. He was pretty sure he could probably train the little shit to sit and speak and he'd have no qualms about it.

As he swung his bamboo sword at him again, the other thing that irritated him came to light. Sure the kid was doing about half of what he said, and he was proving pretty easily that he'd be at least a hard target to hit—surprising, considering how easily his older self got the most stupid of injuries. But he was only doing half of it.

"Oi, you aren't deaf, so either you're doing this to piss me off, or you're just plain stupid," Kanda growled, kicking a foot out to trip the boy, but he did a backflip and got out of the way…one of those stupid clown tricks, probably.

"W-wha?"

The lil shit already sounded somewhat out of breath, what the hell? Now he has no stamina? Great.

"I said 'dodge or fight or some shit', not 'dodge or some shit'. Fight back," he growled, stabbing the ground right beside Allen before he swung a punch at him from the other side. The little snake slid right between his legs.

Kanda paid no mind to it though, tightening his grasp on the sword as he swung it back, nearly hitting Allen on the forehead had he not bent backwards.

"What do you think the AKUMA will do when you fight them? Tire out?"

The boy didn't answer, backing up carefully as Kanda continued being on offensive in more ways than one.

"You think they'll keep trying to hit you for a while before they give up and leave you alone? Well, I have news for you, dipshit," he punched at the boy again, missing, "They have an infinite amount of energy. There's no 'tiring it out'. I thought you with that shitty curse would at least know that by now."

Allen flinched hard, a strange look crossing his face. He lost his focus long enough for Kanda to get closer than he'd been able to before, and he startled once he stopped panicking long enough to notice. The boy barely moved out of the way of his fist fast enough, and Kanda clenched his teeth.

He moved faster, Allen beginning to have a bit of trouble keeping up with his movements, "They never rest. All they do is kill and evolve, over and over again until one of us kill it. And if you're the only thing around them, they'll target you."

A swipe of his sword nearly hit the boy, "Thing is, most of them have bullets. Sure, you're dodging is alright, but try doing the same against a barrage of bullets. Then again, you're a parasitic type, you probably couldn't care less. It doesn't matter though. There's plenty of other ways to kill a human."

Kanda rushed forward at him once more, Allen just barely backing up in time. It wasn't enough though, as Kanda kicked a foot out, making the boy lose his footing. He fell to the ground with a cry, groaning lightly after being jostled. He seemed to come to himself moments later though, acting quickly.

Allen curled up into a tight ball on his side, covering his stomach and face as he lay still. He didn't look up at Kanda, even as his opponent glared down at him. Kanda tapped the end of the bamboo sword against his thigh and watched with a mix of morbid satisfaction and utter disgust as the boy flinched.

"Or you can just kill yourself by doing this."

When the boy didn't move he scoffed, turning around to head over to the pillar he'd left his clothes and Innocence against, "Come talk to me when you actually want to put up a fight, Moyashi."

He didn't look back to see the boy uncurl from his position on the ground, couldn't see the scared yet disappointed look on Allen's face as he caught his breath. All he knew was that this version of Allen was more likely to get himself killed than the one he originally met. He scowled a little when he heard Krory reassure Allen from a distance that he did alright for his first time, Marie nodding in agreement, but he figured if that got the brat to get his act together, then they could do whatever they wanted.

Back at his supplies, Kanda picked up Mugen up from where he'd had it laying against the pillar. It was sheathed and deactivated, though he could feel it hum right under his hand as he picked it up, almost as if greeting him in his return to its side. He ran a finger along it lightly, mostly absentmindedly.

Suddenly he heard something shift in the air, and felt an energy burst forward at him, Krory and Marie falling silent. He would've activated Mugen had he not already become familiar with the kind of aura the Innocence gave off. He hissed lowly, rolling his eyes. It had always been a rather boisterous thing, Mugen not nearly as loud with its energies as Crown Clown…no, it was Cross again, wasn't it? Whatever, its name didn't particularly matter anyway.

Allen's Innocence was a troublesome, loud one, and Allen was a troublesome child. Seriously, he wouldn't attack the boy with Mugen. The fight was over already. Besides, he knew the kind of damage his Innocence could do, and he didn't want an earful from the Order. He would've thought the idiot would've at least been able to predict that.

Or maybe…did the kid actually have some pride in him? Was he actually upset by his defeat. Kanda felt a bit of satisfaction bubble in him unwillingly. If the kid actually had some beef with him over getting his ass kicked, then that was fine. Kanda could go up against the little runt as long as he provided some form of a challenge.

"No! Stop!"

…What?

Kanda heard a loud clinking sound and turned around. His eyes opened wider than usual, honestly shocked by what he saw.

Allen's Innocence clinked again as its fingers scrapped against each other, the large hand crawling forward in the sand…but it seemed that the boy it was attached to wasn't in for the ride. In fact, Allen looked shocked. Seemingly paying no mind to the boy, the claws of Allen's Innocence dug into the sand as it crawled closer. Allen angled his body back, pulling his weight against his arm, trying to back away from Kanda as sweat beaded at his brow. Krory was standing up on the sidelines, eyes wide as he watched the boy struggle to control his own arm. Marie seemed concerned, but couldn't grasp the whole situation.

"Stop'it…" the boy hissed lowly, his teeth clenched as his human hand held onto his Innocence's shoulder. The hand had the gall to creep even closer, dragging Allen's feet in the sand. If the thing could make any sounds, Kanda was sure it'd be growling.

He'd been expecting a reaction to beating the brat, but this certainly wasn't it. What was the Innocence so pissed off about, pissed off enough to go against its host's wishes? The twit certainly didn't look like he was up for a fight, yet the thing was trying to drag him forward.

What was it even doing?

This only happened after he…

Glaring, Kanda twisted his wrist, letting Mugen gleam a little in the light of the room, "Hey, I'm not going to attack you with this. Are you stupid?"

The boy squinted up at him, his other eye still completely clenched shut with exertion, "W-what're you talkin' about? I know that…" he trailed off for a second, a slight glitter coming to his eye, "…right?"

Kanda stared at the boy for a moment as he got his bearings back, the glitter disappearing as his Innocence tried to force itself forward again, as if trying to charge forward at him. He was pretty sure he knew what was going on at that point.

"…Ah, I see. The Moyashi doesn't remember," Kanda said, staring at the hand as he adjusted Mugen at his side, "But you do."

The hand twitched right at the place where he'd cut it all those months ago. The Japanese man frowned down at it, the thing digging its forefinger into the sand. For some reason, he couldn't tell if it was acting out of concern for its host or for itself. Whether it was protecting Allen the time it activated back then as well.

'Parasitic' Innocence, huh?

"Do you get why your arm's acting up?"

Allen let an irritated expression cross his face for only a moment before he went back to pulling against a part of his own body, "N-no! I…it ain't like you're 'n AKUMA or nothin'…"

"It thinks I'm going to attack you with Mugen," Kanda replied, watching Allen with a bit of curiously at the bit of information.

The boy's eyes opened wide, glittering just slightly before they went back to normal, "W-wha? Ya wouldn' do that…right? Ya said," he grunted with exertion, the hand lurching again, "Y-ya said the fight was over!"

"I already have, brat."

"…Wha?"

"I've already attacked you before. Maybe if you actually use your brain for five seconds, you could recall it," he smirked, "The first time I met you."

Allen's eyes glittered again, "No…th-" he huffed at his arm's force, "This is the first time I've seen ya…"

"Like I said, you cursed idiot, use your fucking brain."

A panicked look came onto his face, "'M only a lil cursed! It's nothin' t—…a…ah…wha…?"

The glitter in his eyes turned into a glow, and his body seized, his face going flat. The entirety of both of his eyes flashed light shades of blue, yellow, and white for a moment, static fazing in them like the fast-forwarding of a video clip. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was very strange to see. In the shock of whatever was going on in the kid's head, green Innocence energy sparked around Allen and the arm deactivated, no longer forcing him to go at Kanda.

Allen fell to his knees, his eyes widening after the ordeal, sweat rolling down from his hairline.

"You got it yet, brat?" he asked, watching the boy shudder as he seemed to settle back into his body.

"I…I don' get it…" he held his human hand to his head, "I…met you before? Wher' was this?"

"At the old Order location, idiot."

Allen's face suddenly scrunched up, "Don' call me an idiot over shit I don' know yet! I'm askin' ya questions, ain't I?! At least explain'it b'fore ya call me stupid!"

Kanda kept the same expression on his face, but inside he felt his mood lighten a bit. So the brat had always had that ridiculous temper, despite this wimpy façade he put on all of the time. Geez, the kid barely changed over the course of…how many years back was he? Four? Five?

Allen's tone didn't stay harsh though, a strange terror creeping up on his face at his outburst. Before he could apologize, Kanda clicked his tongue and walked away, leaving the boy sitting in the sand.

"Try remembering it yourself, Moyashi."

Allen's apple pile sat completely forgotten on the side as Krory rushed forward to help the boy, Marie close behind, the apple he'd been eating turning shades of yellow and brown at the part he'd eaten off of.


	12. Lusigando

**Yo.**

 **Sorry I haven't updated much. Things have been a lil…eh. This chapter might be lack-luster. My apologies for that. I want to get to a point where I'm updating this story once a week or at least bi-weekly, but *laughs wryly* I'll see about that.**

 **Thanks to** Yuuki GB **,** jy24 **, and** Cutiepie120048 **for reviewing the story.**

 **Thanks for everyone's favs and follows. They are very much appreciated.**

 **Stay shiny! *jazz hands***

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: Nyan. Meow. Gaooo. All of those are Cat-anese for "no."**

* * *

Krory watched with concerned eyes as Allen walked briskly beside him, only one apple left from the small batch of them he'd had before. He bit into it just like the others, silently walking beside him as they headed to the cafeteria.

There seemed to be no trace left behind of the fight that he'd had with Kanda, but there was something…different about him. Given, Allen had told him what it was.

* * *

" _I've met'm before."_

 _Krory blinked owlishly at the boy, his mouth open wider. Kanda had left a minute ago, and after Marie gave Allen an quick once over, he left after his comrade, unable to hear anything wrong with Allen, save for the things he noticed before and an accelerated heartbeat from the exercise._

 _He wasn't really surprised by the fact Allen didn't remember that he'd met Kanda before. He was actually surprised Allen was taking it so well._

 _If he'd stuck in a situation where he was only remembering things piece by piece, especially if he suspected Allen currently was, there would've been a considerably larger amount of crying and confusion. Even young, the boy seemed to take things in stride. It must just be a habit of his…_

 _Ah, had to be a habit of his, considering his master._

" _Is that so? Where did you meet him?" he asked, just to see if it matched what Allen had told him before._

" _Erhm…" his eyes squinted in concentration, "It was somewhere really high up, and…there were little bats flying everywhere…" then his eyes opened wide, "There was a gate, too! It talked to me!"_

 _Krory hummed in interest, noting that the memory seemed correct._

" _It wan't nice, though…said I was 'n AKUMA? And then…" his expression scrunched, "…he came. He attacked me 'cause o' wha' the gate said and…"_

 _Allen looked down at his arm, frowning._

" _You got hurt, right?" Krory finished._

" _Mmhmm."_

" _I see…is something bothering you?"_

 _The boy blinked up at him before shaking his head, "Nu-uh. I w's just wonderin'…I was taller?"_

 _Krory wanted to laugh out loud, but he kept it as a chuckle. He watched as Allen reached over to his pile of apples, the one that he bit off of having yellowed and browned lightly where he'd eaten earlier._

" _Oh, that apple might be a little—"_

 _Allen bit into the part he'd bitten in before without hesitation, leaving the man blinking in surprise. Usually children would complain about their apples if they went a little soft or turned brown too quickly, but the boy didn't seem to mind in the least. After all, once he'd bitten into it, the fresh parts of the apple returned, the juice coming back._

" _Mmh?" Allen swallowed what he was chewing, "Wha' did'ja say?"_

 _Krory sighed, smiling lightly as he shook his head, "Nothing important."_

* * *

The boy had been feeling a little hungry after the sparring, and he was running out of apples—and Krory felt a little peckish himself—so they headed off to the cafeteria. The man wondered where Lavi was as they headed along their way, but decided that he wouldn't bother too much about it. He was probably still sleeping the mission off. Actually…

"Allen?"

"Mmh?" he looked up at Krory.

"Where is Lavi?"

Allen thought for a minute before he seemed to realize something, "Ah, he's back in the room. I…might need to head back to him."

"Why?"

"Nurse gave 'im something' he has'ta give me when I eat sometimes, so I gotta get 'im if I wan'ta eat," he turned around, heading back the way they came, but paused before he left, "Uhm, I gotta go, so…"

"Oh, it's alright! If he's up to it, maybe we can meet once you both get there? We can have dinner together!"

Allen blinked at the notion but nodded anyway before heading off.

"Ah! Allen, you're heading to Lavi's room, right?"

"Yeah."

"It's the other way!"

At least some things were the same.

* * *

Lavi awoke to the knock on his door. He twitched awake, yawning tiredly as he stood up.

"Mmh coming," he sighed, carefully walking on parts of the floor that didn't have his papers on it simply out of habit.

He stretched a little as he opened the door, squinting his eye at the light outside. Then, he brightened a bit, a lazy smile coming onto his face.

"Ah, hey Krorykins!"

The man laughed good-naturedly, proving he had no AKUMA blood in his system, "Hello Lavi! It's nice to see you weren't shrunk, too!"

"Hmm? Wha'dya…ah."

Right beside him, Allen stood with a lightly nervous, but mostly sheepish look on his face.

"Allen couldn't find his way back, and he said you needed to give him something when he ate. So I helped him get back to you. I'm glad you're still here!" Krory laughed, "Wouldn't want to search for you too long."

"Oh hey, thanks Krory," he replied with a smile, shifting over to let a silent Allen squeeze into the room beside him, "So hey, what did he do while he was out?"

"Hmm? Oh, when we found him, he'd knocked into Kanda. After that, we all went to the training room…speaking of which," he leaned in, "What's going on? He's lost his memory?"

Lavi looked back into the room. Allen seemed to not be paying attention, his sleeve wiping the corner of his mouth as he reached for another fruit in the bag they'd gotten from Jeryy. He turned back to the curious man, his voice lowered.

"It was an AKUMA attack. He'd been regressed to the time he was 12, for the most part anyway. His memories are out of whack, so sometimes he remembers recent things, but for the most part, he doesn't know any of us."

"Eeeh? I thought he was younger…are kids always that small?" he sighed, but then perked back up, "Ah, he did remember something while fighting Kanda."

"He fought Kanda?!"

Lavi couldn't see it, but Allen flinched at the reaction. He didn't make a sound and tried to not listen as he crawled back into the bed with his fruit.

"Well, it was more like sparring…well, more like dodging. Allen didn't try to hit Kanda, he just made sure he didn't get hurt. And don't worry! Kanda didn't hit him hard, only tripped him up a few times…Allen's amazingly good at dodging, actually. Also, Marie and I were there, too. He would've heard if he'd gotten hurt, and I would've seen it."

"Oh," he calmed, "I see…that's good. Thanks for watching him."

"No problem! If you're feeling up to it in the next few minutes, I'll be in the cafeteria. Feel free to stop by!"

"Sure thing."

Krory smiled as he turned around, but then remembered something and turned back, "Ah, also…"

"Hmm?"

"I think sparring with Kanda helped him remember something. He told me he met Kanda before…then there's also the thing his arm…"

"The…what thing?"

Krory frowned, "…Has Allen's Innocence…always tried to, uh…drag him around?"

Oh. Well, that was new.

"Not that I'm aware of…I'll ask him about it."

"Ah, good," the man's concern faded a little, "I'm off to eat. See you later."

Lavi waved at him as he walked off before he closed the door. He sighed a little tiredly, but not because of Allen. Rather, he was upset he hadn't been around to help the boy out. It had to have been sort of scary to walk through the Black Order all by himself. And he was certain that Krory had questions about what was going on, considering how strange Allen was acting.

He wasn't exactly sure how well Allen coped being around groups of men. Hell, he warmed up to Lenalee faster than he'd warmed up to him—he could tell just by his body language. Even so, Krory seemed to have found a soft spot that Allen felt comfortable with, since he saw his body tense after he looked at him when he opened the door.

'Baby steps, Lavi. You've got to be patient,' he thought, pulling his chair over to the bed, Allen watching him.

Considering the mark, there was no telling what Allen had gone through. He had to build trust again, and it would probably be harder than before, but it would be worth it.

"Hey kiddo. Did you have fun?" he asked, sitting down and looking at the cautious boy in his bed.

He nodded lightly in reply, his body slightly curled in.

Lavi smiled reassuringly, leaning back and relaxing his posture, "I guess you got bored waiting for me to wake up, huh?

"'M sorry."

He waved his hand dismissively, "No, no, it's fine. If I were you, I would've went exploring, too! Besides, I never said you had to stay in the room. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Ah…" Allen paused for a moment before he started again, "…I fought Kanda…oh, but 'e told me to…w's tha' okay?"

"Hmm, well, did you get hurt?"

The boy shook his head, uncurling a bit, "No…I jus' feel kinda tired…"

"Is that all you feel?"

"Mmh…and…maybe a lil…h'ngry."

Lavi smiled, pointing at the orange in his hand, "Well, if you're hungry, you can eat."

"But…we'e talkin'."

"It's fine, really."

Allen hummed lightly before he sat up in the bed. A moment later, he began peeling the orange, and a tangy scent began to waft through the room.

"How was the sparring session with Kanda?" Lavi asked curiously, "Oh, and it's okay that you fought him."

The boy hummed again, placing a piece of the peel in his lap, "Uhm…'t was okay. He was kinda mad."

Lavi couldn't hold back his laughter, "Oh don't worry about that! He's angry practically all the time."

"…'Ow do you make 'im…not angry?"

"When you find out how, be sure to let me know, kiddo."

"Oh," he muttered, eating the first piece of orange.

"What else happened?"

"Uhmm…" he finished chewing, "he came at me wit' 'his sword thing. It w'sn't metal or anythin', but it w's still scary. I jus' didn't want to get hit…he got mad at me fer it, though."

"Hmm?"

"Well…he said somethin' like…AKUMA don' run outta energy and I should'a attacked 'im back, cause if not I'd die."

Oh, that was…reasonable. Given, Kanda wasn't always reasonable because he was in a constant state of frustration at literally everything, but his critique was spot-on. It was interesting…it seemed as though Kanda was evaluating him. Obviously, he'd failed, but for him to evaluate then critique…

"Just like a teacher, huh?"

"Hmm?"

"Oh, it's nothing, I'm just talking to myself," Lavi smiled.

'Does Yuu have a soft spot for Allen? ...Nah, he wouldn't. I'm pretty sure he did something similar with Timothy…does he have a soft spot for kids?'

"Anyway, Allen, he might be rough around the edges, but what he said was right. AKUMA won't stop or get tired."

"I know that…"

"You do?"

"Yeah…'n their bullets go flyin' everywhere, so ya have t' kill 'em fast."

Lavi blinked with surprise, "Oh…then why didn't you fight back when fighting Kanda?"

Allen looked up at him, licking his juice-covered fingers, "'E's not 'n AKUMA."

"Well…good point, but we spar so that we can train to defend against AKUMA. Even if your opponent isn't one, you have to act like they are."

The absolute confusion that came upon his face was absolutely adorable. In fact, he looked rather concerned.

"But…but my arm…"

"Hmm?"

"W-…wouldn' I hurt 'im if I used my arm?"

So that's what he was thinking.

"Oh, no! No, you wouldn't use your arm when sparring! You're just acting like they're an AKUMA, not…well…completely acting like they are," Lavi bent forward so Allen could see his eyes clearly, "Sparring is just so we can stay fit and to make sure that we can fight back if they stay looking human, or, if the case comes to be that way, you are fighting an actual human. You don't have to use your arm while sparring. The goal is to get the other to surrender…if you can."

"Ooooh…that's why Kanda got mad. 'Cause he don' think I c'n fight."

"Well, like I said, he's angry all of the time bu—"

Lavi froze, watching as light glimmered and glitched in Allen's eyes, the boy stock still. The energy of the room seemed to shift a bit until it felt lighter. Moments passed, and then the light fade, Allen gasping as he reached his hands up to hold his head, sweat building at his brow.

"Allen!" the redhead reached forward, taking hold of his shoulders, "Allen, are you okay?"

"…Mar…tel?" the boy looked up at him with bleary eyes, "Wha…where's Martel?"

Lavi's visible eye narrowed, "…It's an abandoned city near France. Why?"

"France? I've ne'er been t' France!" he balled his fists on the sides of his head, "Why 'm I thinkin' of Martel?"

"Why did you start?"

"B'cause!" Allen yelled, then he seemed to remember himself, and curled up a bit again, his voice much quieter, "…B-because…Kanda didn' think I was strong then either…right? Cause I've met 'im before."

"…Where did you meet him?"

"At this talkin' gate…it called me an AKUMA, and he came to hurt me. But it…it can't have been me! I've never been 'ere before…right? I don' think I have! Why 'm I seein' this stuff?"

"Do you feel like it's you when you see it?"

"No…'t's like 'm watchin' someone else…someone taller th'n me. I don't…understand," he clenched his hands against his head, "I don' understand…"

Lavi sighed and leaned back, watching the boy close in on himself.

'His memories are triggered by pinpoints, tells…connections. Would it be better to tell him the situation, or keep playing this game?'


	13. Affabile

**Yo. Thought you were going to go another month without an update, didn'cha?**

 **Happy very belated April Fool's.**

 **Sorry it took so long. Lost motivation for almost everything and had to dedicate myself to studying so I wouldn't slack off at school (I still did, but not too badly). I'm getting back into the swing of things, though.**

 **Thanks for everyone's favs, follows, and reviews. They are very much appreciated.**

 **Stay shiny. *jazz hands***

 **-JD**

 **Disclaimer: I own some concepts and original characters. DGM and its characters are all Hoshino-sensei's.**

* * *

As it turned out, Bookman told him to allow Allen to remember things by himself first. It was frustrating and confusing to Allen, but the alternative wasn't that much greater either. It wasn't likely that Allen would accept the explanation all that well and he'd lose trust in him. Not that Allen had a lot of trust as it was.

Even though a week had already passed, he was still very cautious around him even as he stayed close…well, he was cautious around any man near him. It wasn't that they noticed either, you'd have to be paying close attention, something he'd been trained to do. So when groups of finders or scientists passed too closely to Allen and he started watching the floor, his body closer to him than before, he noticed. When Allen would start sweating a little around large groups, he noticed. His demeanor would change and he'd become more muted, barely saying a word.

His behavior around women had a stark difference. Even around stiff women like Head Nurse, he had an ease in his shoulders that he didn't have when the two were alone. He talked more easily to Lenalee and female finders and scientists. Heck, he warmed up to Miranda pretty quickly once she'd returned from a mission—she'd been nervous, considering her past experiences with children, but remembering that he was still Allen reassured her.

In general though, he was quite respectful to anyone older than him.

So when Timothy returned with Nine, Lavi was more than a little curious to see what would happen.

"Al…len?"

Said boy turned around to see who called his name. He blinked in what Lavi assumed was surprise at seeing a kid seemingly younger than him in the building; he even still had his uniform on.

"Uhm yeah?" his head tilted, "Do I…know ya?"

Timothy gave him a bit of a distraught look, and Nine glanced at Lavi meaningfully. When he mouthed the problem over to the woman, her visible eye narrowed, but she didn't seem angry or anything of the sort.

"Uhhh…I mean, I uh—" he stopped abruptly.

Lavi could sort of guess what just happened, especially when Allen staggered to the side a little. Honestly, he was a bit surprised by his reaction, too. Remembering something just from seeing the kid's face? That's the strongest reaction he'd had to anyone since they returned to the Order.

"Ahh…you're…Timothy," the boy replied brokenly.

"Yeah, Allen! What happened to ya? You're a lot smaller now! And what was with your eyes?"

"M' eyes?"

"Yeah! They started flashing and stuff for a minute. It was kinda cool, to be honest!"

"I dunno. I ne'er noticed anythin' weird with'em before," he mumbled, rubbing at his lower right eyelid.

"Eh, it doesn't matter. It was still cool! Hey, I have some free time. Wanna hang out for a bit?" Timothy asked, clearly curious about Allen as he was now.

The white haired boy gave Lavi a short glance, and he made sure to give him a reassuring smile and a nod.

"Yeah, I can hang out," he stepped forward, nearly not acknowledging anyone else anymore, "Wha'd'ya wanna do?"

The little boy grinned at him before taking his hand, "Aww man, I've got this great idea! C'mon!"

Allen let the boy pull him away, giving a small nod to Nine before the two set off down the hallway, Timothy no doubt leading him to some sort of trouble. When they were completely out of sight, she walked forward.

"Memory loss."

"And de-aging, to boot. He's a strange kid," he laughed.

"I imagine so," her head tilted a bit, "He walks rather quietly for a child his age."

"Hmm…true, but he's also 12—yeah, I know, I didn't think it either at first…Either way, he knows how to, at least."

Her visible eyebrow raised, "I imagine there's something else involved."

He gave her an ambivalent smile, one that hid everything, "Yup!"

She hummed in resignation, deciding not to pry.

* * *

"So ya just popped up there? You didn't know where you were or anything?"

"Nope."

"Yikes, sounds freaky," Timothy replied, still holding Allen's hand as they headed toward his quarters, "Hey, since you're small n' all, how much do ya remember about me?"

Allen thought for a moment before responding, "Kinda rememb'r gettin' hit n' tha' head first meetin' ya…no? Not th' first. E'ther way. Then…" his eyes glittered before calming, "there w's n' attack 'r somethin'."

"Oh, right, that…ehehe. Oh hey, were ya awake in my body? How'd that feel?" he looked back, genuinely curious.

"Mmh…I don' think I w's awake…where're we goin?"

Timothy looked back at him and grinned, "Have ya ever skated before?"

"Skate?"

"Yeah! See, I have these really cool skates, so maybe you could try them out? I mean…" he slowed down, "now that I think about it, I dunno if your feet will fit. They're a bit bigger than mine…but we can try it!"

Allen gave him a small smile, "I mean, if y' wanna let me try 'em, I don' mind tryin'."

* * *

So, as it turned out, he kind of minded. Everything felt unsteady and he wasn't sure if he knew how to stop. Either way, he allowed himself to be pushed along, Timothy's hands on his back, the boy giggling. It was actually getting pretty fun, even to the point where Timothy would push him harder a few times to let him roll on further ahead. As long as Allen kept his legs straight, everything was fine. He let himself start smiling too, enjoying the air rustling through his hair.

Well, it was, but then a man holding a folder suddenly walked out into the hallway, not hearing the sound of playing kids. Allen, not seeing him until last minute, cried out one last time before the two collided. The man tripped up on the skates and fell as well, his papers and pictures flying out from the folder.

Timothy gasped as he ran down the hall, the other two men with the one that fell quickly checking to see if everyone was okay.

"Oh no! Are ya okay Allen?" Timothy called, getting closer, "I think I pushed you too hard!"

"Mmhh…" he sat up, rubbing at his forehead, "'M fine, 'ts okay," then turned to the man he'd knocked into and clammed up.

"Oh shoot, I've got to watch where I'm going. Heard you guys and didn't even think about it," the man muttered, gathering his papers into his hands as his colleagues helped, "Hey, are you…Mr. Walker?"

The other two man in white coats looked at their friend before their gaze fell on the exorcist. He was looking down and off to the side, his hands close to his stomach as he seemed to shrink in on himself as much as he could without balling up altogether. If one watched very closely, they'd notice the slight tremble to his fists as well.

"'M s'rry. I'll b'more careful…"

The men exchanged glances, not used to the white-haired boy being as reserved—or small for that matter. Heck, he seemed scared even. Timothy wasn't sure what to do either, gaze confused as he looked between the scientists and Allen.

"Uhmm…h-hey, it's okay, right?" one of them spoke up, going back to picking up papers.

"There's no trouble at all! No need to look worried!" the main one said, eyebrows furrowed in concentration as he tried to reorganize the papers in the folder he'd dropped.

Allen still didn't say anything, but his shoulders seemed to relax. After a moment, he readjusted himself to where he was sitting more comfortably with the skates on and started pushing some of the pictures that had spread out on the ground toward the man with the folder. Timothy came closer and started to do the same thing, noticing what they were pictures of as he gathered some in a pile.

"Hey, who's this guy? He looks shady," Timothy asked, picking one up to see his face.

He had dirty blond hair, and it looked pretty messy all over his head. He had a purpling bruise on his cheek and a haunted look in his eyes that was almost too much for the little boy to look at. Allen opened his hand to take the picture, curious as well. When he saw it, his eyes narrowed and looked for a name marking on it, finding a code written on the back: Baron Wembley, A. 1853-05-07 (Fel.), Embez., HT., CL., Sod.

"Alexzander Wembly," Allen replied, turning it back over to the front, handing it to the main man.

"Well, it's Sir Alexander Wembley. He was an important informant and advisor to members of the Ministry—that's the main government in the UK—but now, well, he's in penal servitude. It's our job to find updates in information about what happens with the government," one of the historians replied, a slight bit of pride in his voice.

"There are some who focus on other things, like the myths surrounding certain areas to find the Innocence you guys search for, but that's not our jurisdiction."

"I guess you could say that we keep tabs on them," the main historian replied, winking.

Timothy laughed, pushing his stack of pictures over before making another one. One of the ones he picked up had the man's legs in view, no clothing on.

"Oooh gross, you can almost see it! You can almost see it!" Timothy shrieked—part playfully, part disgusted—holding the picture with his thumb and pointer finger far away from himself, eyes scrunched closed.

Allen sighed good-naturedly, taking the picture from him before he moved to give it back to the historians, looking at it. When he did, he seemed to look for something in particular before frowning. When he apparently didn't find what he was looking for, he turned the picture over to the other side, seeing the code again.

"Hmm… That's not 'im."

Everyone paused for a moment, processing what he said, before they all turned to him.

"W-what did you say?" the main research historian asked.

Allen looked up at him before he jolted, seeming to realize that he'd said that aloud. He looked off to the side again, not meeting the other's gaze, "Whoe'er took th' pic had Wembly clean 'is body off, right? Then tha's not 'im."

"…Are you saying you've…met him before? Might I ask how you know it's not him?" one of the researches asked.

Allen glanced at them just barely before he looked away again, drawing a finger in a circle on his right knee, "Wembly's got a scar. A kinda blotchy one righ' here tha' goes down t' the top ov 'is calf. Said 'e got it from'a knife fight, but I know that wazn't it. An' in the pic ov his face, he 'as green eyes, but really, 'is eyes 'er blue. Wembly'd wear some weird glass over the colored part ov 'is eye. The guy 'n the pic don' look like he 'as one and his eyes 'er actually green, so tha's not 'im. That's probably Herm'n."

"Her—what?"

"Herm'n…uh…Her-man. Zander tol' me he had'da doppel 'n he used 'im in 'is place while he…" Allen trailed off.

"While he what?" the main historian asked incessantly, scooting forward a bit, only to scoot back when Allen backed up.

"While 'e…uhm…" he glanced subtly at Timothy before looking away, "did som' shady stuff."

The research historians looked amongst each other, not sure what to say or do.

"Mr. Walker, this isn't something to play around with, you know that, right? Wembley was arrested for some pretty heavy things," one of them said, putting the remaining papers and pictures into its folder.

"Yeah, like payin' people wi' money that belongs t' someone else, 'n stealin' from tha' government, 'n payin' fer kids ta' work withou' getting' paid, right? Tha's why it's good t' have the right guy, right?" Allen replied coarsely, still not looking at the men, "I know wha' he tol' me."

The historians looked a bit startled at his harsh reply, yet at the same time, marveled at his knowledge of the pictured man's crimes, even without seeing the papers it was listed on. When one fo the men looked at the back of the pictures and realized that his full name wasn't written out, he opened his mouth, believing Allen.

"…Where did he do all of this?"

Allen seemed even tenser than before, but replied after bewildered look on Timothy's face, "A lotta places. Mostly Turkey."

One of them searched the papers they had before standing up, "Allen's right. Embezzlement, high theft, child labor, even the main location…it's all here. I…believe we should report this."

"We'll look further into it," the main man replied before turning back to Allen, "How did you know all of this?"

"…Uhm…ya got a pen 'n paper or somethin'?"

He gave the kid a confused look before deciding against questioning that, reaching over to be handed the folder he dropped. When his colleage gave it to him, he searched through the now unorganized documents for a blank sheet. When he found one, he took it out, and dug into his jacket pocket for a pen, giving both to Allen. The boy muttered a quick thanks, still not quite looking at him, before he started writing something in Turkish. When he finished, he handed them both back to the man.

"Komui'll wha' that means."

"Right," he replied, putting his pen away, "Uhm…thank you, Mr. Walker."

Allen hummed, finally starting to try to get up, even with the skates on. At that point, Timothy had snapped out of his daze and rushed over to help the older boy up. The historians watched for a second before they decided they needed to get moving again, hurrying off down the hallway.

Timothy helped Allen get to his knees near one of the walls.

"Oh geez, uh…lemme hold your hands this time instead. I mean, if you wanna keep trying?"

"…Sure, I guess," he replied, holding his hands up.

Timothy took them and held on tightly as Allen stood the rest of the way up, legs a tad shaky before he straightened himself out.

"Okay, I'mma pull you forward."

Allen nodded, watching his feet as they started moving.

For a few moments, the two were silent as Timothy slowly pulled Allen through the hallway, not paying attention to any passing people. The younger boy almost felt like sweating from the awkwardness, but, per Tsukikami's silent advice, he decided to try talking to break the awkwardness.

"Well, that was weird."

"Kinda…yeah."

"Hey, 'm sorry 'bout pushing you too hard. You sure you're okay?"

Allen looked at him before looking back down, nodding, "Yea."

"Good, good… Hey, how'd ya know so much about the guy in the picture?"

Without batting an eye, he replied, "I'mma massager…masseuse? Masseuse."

Timothy's eyes widened, "Huh, why'd they have you doing it?"

He shrugged, keeping his eyes mostly on where his feet were going, "I dunno. Things 'er differ'nt in Turkey."

"Oh, that makes sense…hey, Allen," Timothy grinned at him, a slight flush coming onto his cheeks, "Have you ever touched a boob?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah."

Timothy actually stopped at the nonchalant way he said it. Allen looked up from his feet, a tad confused.

"Wait really? You've touched a boob?"

"I've touched a lotta boobs."

"What?! How?! When?!"

"Well, sometimes th' people wanted lotion on 'em when they got massaged, and if they 'er okay wi' me puttin' it on, sometimes I'd end up touching their boobs."

"You've touched a naked boob?!"

"Tha's…the only boobs I've touched?"

Timothy gave an embarrassed cry as he turned around, covering his beet red face, "H-how'd you do that without j-just burstin' into flames?! How many times have ya gotten hit in the head?"

"Well, I mean, a boob'z a boob. An' I only got hit a few times."

"…Out of ten times, how many would'ja get hit?" he asked, turning back toward him.

"Mhh…maybe two."

"Liar!"

"Nuh-uh."

Timothy stared straight into his silver eyes, and Allen stared straight back. At Allen's unrelenting resolve, he backed away, placing his arms in front of himself.

"Oh wow…y-you're not lying…" he then pointed at him exaggeratedly, eyes practically starlit, "A…a saint! You're a saint! Ya gotta tell me…how can I do that? How can I touch that many?"

"…Well first, ya get their consent, then—"

"Consent? Wait…you're tellin' me…all of them _wanted_ you to touch their boobs?"

"Yeah. Well, they expected it at least."

"…Then why'd they hit you?"

"…Sometimes they got surprised anyway."

Timothy nodded in understanding, "Hmm, I figured that. Women are weird."

"…E'ryone is weird."

"Eh?"

"Nothin'."

Timothy pouted, taking Allen's hands again as he pulled him along, "C'moooooon, you can tell me!"

Allen resisted laughing at the look on his face, "Nope."

He stuck his tongue out in retaliation. Allen returned the sentiment before he continued talking.

"How'd you touch a boob?"

"Through their clothes, suddenly."

"Get consent first!" Allen barked, surprisingly adamant about it.

"Eeeeeehhh? But then there's no surprise!"

"Ya also get hit e'rytime."

"…True."

The two continued their playful banter as Timothy pulled Allen down the hallway. Eventually they got back into the swing of things and moved faster, but they went slow enough to keep talking.

It was endearing to those who didn't really hear what they were talking about.

* * *

Komui gazed at the papers before him as he listened to what the research historians told him.

"Herman, you say?"

"Yes, sir. If this is right, then the real Alexander Wembley is still out there," the main one replied, his stance straight.

"I see…who told you this?"

"Well, uhm…Allen Walker, sir."

His eyebrows rose, "Allen did?"

"Yes, sir. He said that he knew Wembley, but honestly, he didn't say how. He did leave a small note on the paper for you. He said you'd understand it."

"Alright, good. You all are dismissed for now."

"Th-thank you, Chief!" they replied, giving a quick bow before they left the office.

Once they were gone, he gazed at the note Allen left for him.

"'Müşteri', huh? Bridget."

"Yes, Chief?"

"I'll be honest, my Turkish is pretty rusty. What does this word mean?" he asked, angling the message toward her.

She read over it for a moment before replying.

"It means 'client', sir."

"Client...ah, that explains the...hmm... See if one of the higher Intelligence section members will investigate this further, and from there we'll determine whether to send the information to the Diplomatic sector or not. I recommend you see if Cohen is free."

She took the papers from him, humming lowly, "Please be sure that second stack is at least started on before I come back."

He grinned, "When have I not finished my paperwork?"

He laughed at the expression she gave him before she left. Once gone, his face grew a bit somber, but he was still decisive. Deciding to actually get work done, he got back to it.


End file.
